The Produce Market remained a hub of wholesale produce distribution until its last tenants were evicted in 1998. Up to that time, wholesale perishables could were still distributed to families, universities, hotels, hospitals, neighborhood produce markets and restaurants in the area. However business had declined over the decades, as supermarket chains that ship their goods directly to their own stores, grew into a stronger market force.

In 1980 the State acquired the property where the building stands for $14.1 million, from Amtrak, in order to build an off-ramp to bring shoppers on from I-95 to the Providence Place Mall. At that time, the Produce Warehouse was put under the supervision of the Department of Transportation. Today, only 64 bays survive, as the eastern most bay of the building and the railway tower were amputated as a result of the ramp construction. In 1998 the State evicted remaining businesses and since then the state's Department of Transportation has allowed the building to decay.

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