Design review is fun. You can help pick out apartment tower colors for the new Whole Foods building planned for Broadway at Madison.

The future McDonald’s building appears to contain no McDonald’s. This is not appropriate feedback for the design review board.

For those of you hungering for the the filling humanity of public comment, one of the city’s last bastions of unrestrained community testimony will take on two high profile — and high-reaching — area projects Wednesday night.

It’s design review time for the 16-story Broadway Whole Foods building and 17-story apartment tower set to replace the First Hill McDonald’s. CHS explored the latest proposed designs here. For the Broadway building that will contain the area’s first two-level Whole Foods market, the review board reps said they would be looking for a building with more “glazing” and “fenestration” to break up the structure’s mass, a better pedestrian experience along Madison, something to break up the blank walls along Spring St., “a strong corner gateway presence”… and no metal, which the architects apparently indicated was going to be part of the material plan for the building’s exterior. There’s also a major color issue to resolve. As for the McDonald’s building, we’re not sure exactly what the board is asking for — “explore how to create a more dynamic expression similar to what was shown in the precedent imagery while maintaining the residential character and not creating an overly busy façade.”

If you’re not into public comment — or long public meetings — you can send your comments on the designs to the city’s planner attached to each project. Here’s the contact for the Whole Foods building and here’s who you can tell all your McDonald’s building hopes and dreams to. Take a look through the design review guidelines to better shape your feedback.

East Design Review Board
November 18, 2015 — 1001 Broadway (PDF): 6:30 pm — 1001 Minor (PDF): 8:00 PM
Seattle University, 901 12th Ave
Student Center 210 Multi-Purpose Room