Live the Sweet Life at the New Green Line Residences
The Providence building, once home to Green Line Apothecary, has been renovated into seven luxury apartments.
The former Green Line Apothecary on North Main Street in Providence has been been turned into luxury apartments. Photograph by Blueflash Photography/Matthew Celeste.
The Providence building that once housed Green Line Apothecary has been repurposed into seven swanky apartments and — come next summer — will host an old-fashioned ice cream parlor on the first floor.
Owners Ken and Christina Procaccianti ran the North Main Street drugstore from 2019 until 2024, when CVS Health acquired its pharmacy operations, along with another Green Line Apothecary the Procacciantis owned in Wakefield.
As the couple pivoted into making Green Line Ice Cream full-time, they had to decide what to do with the buildings that housed their drugstores. Turning the Providence site into luxury apartments was a no-brainer, Ken says.
“Rather than kick this one down the road, we felt compelled to give it a new life,” he says. “We poured our heart and soul into it on the first go and being kind of the sentimental sucker that I am, I couldn’t walk away from it.”
The pharmacy’s old counter has been repurposed into a bar in one of the units. Photograph by Blueflash Photography/Matthew Celeste.
The building has been some sort of retail store since at least the late 1800s: first as a neighborhood grocer and sundry business, then becoming a Benny’s in 1953. But most Rhode Islanders recommend it as the Rhode Island Aquarium & Pet Center, which stood at 905 North Main St. for four decades.
The Procacciantis carefully renovated the building with a nod to its history, keeping as many original elements as possible. Many apartments feature hand-milled moldings, tin ceilings, reclaimed wood and exposed trim and ceilings. Old doors laden with layers of paint were stripped and refinished and the old pharmacy counter has been repurposed into a home bar in one of the units. Old medical books and apothecary jars, part of Christina’s collection, appear in several units, another reminder of the building’s past incarnation.
Pops of green hint at the branding used for the apothecary and, now, Green Line Ice cream: you’ll find it in the maple kitchen cabinets and dotted throughout the decor. All units have AC and in-unit laundry, plenty of closet space (mandated by Christina), luxury bathrooms and new windows.
The third-floor penthouse comes with a patio overlooking bustling North Main Street. Photograph by Blueflash Photography.
“You can’t find this level of finish for rentals,” says leasing agent Nelson Taylor, managing partner of The Blackstone Team as Compass Real Estate. “This is something that’s typically reserved for luxury condos.”
The seven apartments include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, including a third-floor penthouse with a spacious balcony overlooking bustling North Main Street and North Burial Ground. Units range from $1,600 to $2,900 a month.
And next summer, residents will be able to sample all of the Green Line Ice Cream flavors at the first-floor ice cream parlor, the perfect sweet ending to a building that’s served Rhode Island residents for more than 100 years. 905northmain.com
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