Wine bar in the works for Waco boutique hotel
By Bill Teeter Tribune-Herald staff writer
A small, swank boutique hotel operating in the Austin Avenue Flats is expanding with a wine room set to open in late spring.
The wine room will be part of the entry greeting visitors to the hotel, The Livingston at Heritage Square.
“It will be my physical lobby — the wine room will be called The Lobby at the Livingston,” said Mary Baskin, The Livingston’s owner.
Mary Baskin (left) and Jill Mashburn are partners in a wine bar project planned for opening in about four months.
Jerry Larson/Tribune-Herald
While Baskin owns the hotel, the wine room is a partnership with Common Grounds owner Jill Mashburn.
An alcohol sales permit application is pending and the partners want The Lobby to be open by June 1, Baskin said.
The Austin Avenue Flats consist of rental and for-purchase residential lofts.
The Livingston uses five of the units and one large meeting space, with attached bedrooms as hotel suites under lease to Baskin.
The suites have different themes, Baskin said. One is a New York Upper East Side room, another is called The Richmond Hill after the area in London.
There also is a French-themed St. Germain Suite and one called 21 Turtle Creek, with a Dallas flavor.
During his stay in Waco this week, incoming Baylor University president Ken Starr and family stayed at the Livingston, with Starr occupying The Richmond Hill suite.
Mashburn said between her restaurant experience and Baskin’s work as an interior designer and hotelier, the partnership should be a strong combination yielding a popular spot for downtown.
“We’re very much into hospitality. We’ll put that energy into this place — it will be a good hang-out place for this part of town,” Mashburn said.
The Lobby will be open to the public. Although its specialty will be wine, some beers will be served, Baskin said.
Baskin and Mashburn have an idea of what they want in atmosphere and decor, but the details have yet to be worked out.
“It’s going to be European, cozy and warm and kind of slick, but not supermodern,” Baskin said.
The wine room is not the only new establishment in progress.
Barnett’s Pub and the country bar Rattlesnake Junction are on the verge of opening nearby on Franklin Avenue, and The Z Bar and Grill is in the works on Sixth Street near Interstate 35.
bteeter@wacotrib.com
757-5734
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