Right off the rumbling concrete road of Platt Avenue, next to a well-manicured park sits a slice of property only noticed by pedestrians and drivers looking for a shortcut route to Ashley Drive.

From the naked eye, the property looks like it has just enough space to accommodate two FedEx trucks.

The 1,753-square-foot lot of grass is blocked off by a bright orange construction fence accompanied by a single "for sale" sign. Despite its size, property owner, Don Torina has quite the vision for the vacant space: a three-story caf alongside the bustling Riverwalk.

Small properties like the one Torina owns may seem like a novelty, but they aren't - not really.

"There are pieces like that all over the country," said Warren Weathers, the county's chief deputy property appraiser. "They have all types of names for them."

"Rump pieces" and "cutouts" are often used in the real estate business to describe such slivers of property.

Another term that came to Weathers' mind was "hiatus."

"It's literally a strip of land varying in size that somehow was never included in the legal description when the original surveyors from the 1800s used to measure with chains," said Weathers, referring to how some hiatus properties originated.

South and Central Tampa are home to variations of what can be done with small properties. Some common examples are coffee drive-throughs like the Indigo Coffee in several locations and Caffino and Jammin Java, both on W Gandy Boulevard.

The trend isn't just about coffee shops, however.

There's the humble Bay Bouquet Florist at 212 W Platt St. Sam and Charlie Williams own the 252-square-foot flower shop.

The couple moved their business into the building about six months ago to give their daughter an opportunity to manage her own floral shop.

Sam was initially concerned about the small size.

"I was kind of shy-off about buying it because it was so small," he said. "But I found out that it didn't really matter because we don't really require a large inventory to do what we do."

Still, he said, as many as five people have squeezed into the shop at once.

At the corner of Scott Street and Orange Avenue, just before the I-275 entrance ramp, sits the 416-square-foot Ruben & Steve Bazarte Bail Bonds building.

The business used to be located on Jefferson Street, owner Steve Bazarte said.

"What drew me here was that there was no other property close to the jail. We thought the size of the building was going to be a problem at first, but it turned out to work fine for us," Bazarte said.

Back in 1982, the building was constructed to serve as a bail bonds office. Bazarte moved into the site about 15 years ago.

People often don't think his business is ever open because it's so small. He installed neon signs to let people know the 24-hour business is up and running.

On the corner of S MacDill and W Euclid avenues, the 390-square-foot Eagle Christian Counseling Inc. building sits in the presence of gigantic Mediterranean style homes that dwarf its size.

The building is where Dr. Rita Alexander and Dr. Marie Grace counsel clients.

"The neighborhood just embraces it," said Alexander when she spoke about her tiny building.

"They're really comfortable with the size of it because it has just been here forever," said Alexander.

Alexander remembers a client who joked that her business sign out front was bigger than the building.

Big or small, property in South Tampa still seems to be a hot commodity.

Torina, a 70 year-old commercial property Realtor, recalls his downtown property being priced at $10,000 back in 1986 when he purchased it.

Today, with the looming Riverwalk project in the picture, he is asking for $800,000.

The property was a leftover piece of land that came from the Platt Street Bridge construction project in 1924, he says.

Initially apprehensive about purchasing the land, Torina arranged for one of his partners to buy the property.

He later bought it from his partner.

Torina sat on the property for a few years after buying it, later drafting plans to build a caf.

Plans for the cafe were put on hold after one of his partners passed away. Torina put the land up for sale, at an asking price of $800,000.

With few takers, Torina has returned to the cafe idea. This time, he's thinking a three-story cafe with an observation deck on the third floor.

He would like to sell the property to a buyer that would execute his vision of a caf.

If all fails, Torina said, he'll build it himself.

"It's got a lot going for it and it is a very unique site," he said. "If I don't get anybody to develop the site, then I will."

Jonathan Milton can be reached at 813 226-3374 or milton@sptimes.com.