SE corner of Central Ave and Ross Ave- Widdon's Cash Store

Whiddon's Cash Store, southeast corner of Central Ave and Ross Ave

Commercial and apartment building, southeast corner of Central Street and Ross Avenue, Whiddon's Cash Store on ground floor. 1926. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Green Wall Micro Lofts, SE corner of Central and Ross Avenues. 2021. © Chip Weiner

This building was constructed during the boom in prosperous Tampa Heights in the 1920s at the corner of Central St. and Ross Ave. The area was developed and occupied by the well-to-dos in early Tampa. Whiddon's Cash Store was on the ground floor and marketed itself as a convenience store. Whiddon’s built several stores in the Tampa area and promoted them as being “a block or two from your home”.

In 1989, the two-story masonry building was renovated, and a second floor remodeled into a multiple occupancy dormitory-style building. In the early 2000s, Safe Place was a 25-bed short-term residential treatment center providing mental and substance abuse services for Mental Health Care- GracePoint. The building sold in October 2018 for $725,000 and is now the home of The Green Wall 2015, a micro loft living project featuring 500 – 700 sq ft living spaces.