I put in a request for some abandoned land on Second Life back on Wednesday and they still haven't gotten to it, so I guess the time scale for those sorts of requests is bigger than I initially thought.
I got a response today - turns out they're not willing to sell 16m² abandoned parcels to anyone unless they have land adjacent to it.
That's disappointing but not super surprising. I guess I'll take a look at what 16m² parcels are for sale instead and see if there's any in a good position, for a price that's not ridiculous.
If there's none, I can either try to extend out the 48m² land I have or just stop caring that I have 32m² land tier left. I could use it if I upgrade to premium eventually.
I went and looked at all the 16m² and 32m² parcels for sale (that aren't ridiculously expensive) and I found one with very similar aesthetics to the one I wanted, but most of the good looking parts have restricted access, which convinced me not to get it.
I found some 16m² road-side parcels that actually had much stuff built nearby, and one was very close to my house. But there weren't any locations I really loved... which I should wait for before I get anything. Maybe I'll look in a few months
Actually, better idea:
Instead of putting an ice cream stand somewhere with a 5 LI budget, just make a nice looking, bigger ice cream shop at my house.
It's really minimal but I think it looks great, and the plants on the gazebo fit Sherbet's aesthetic.
I'll want to set it up so that you can actually get ice cream from the display, which won't be hard.