The Produce Warehouse was conceived then, to ameliorate the traffic congestion of Market Square and attract local and regional wholesale distributors to use the railroad. Completed in 1929, it was financed by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company and leased to a conglomerate of local produce dealers called the Providence Fruit and Produce Warehouse Company. Some residents believed the shift of locales meant the loss of "the most colorful spot in the city," while speakers at the Produce Warehouse's opening heralded the new center as the "finest and most efficient distributing unit for perishable foods in the United States." Indeed the new facility had advantages over the old produce hub, with close access to rail tracks a sheltering overhang, and electric lighting. The basement was lined with cork and refrigerated with circulating water.

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