^^^^ Design Review comes before Development permit (or sometimes concurrently depending on the confidence of the developer). Development Permit is essentially a go-ahead by the Planning Department (confirmation vis-a-vis zoning, use, and other control elements). The Building Permit entails a review of Life Safety elements (among those are sustainabilty, structural integrity, accessability, emergency egress, etc.). The time frame usually depends on where the completion of construction documents stands from the perspective of architects, engineers, and developers -- e.g. if the owner/developer decided not to risk any effort pending the development permit approval (a rare circumstance), then he/she would have to do the complete package from concept drawings and for a project of this scale and depending on the work load of the various offices could take anywhere from 3 to 9 months. Once submitted to the City for review that could take an additional 6 to 9 months. Sometimes, to speed up the overall process the developer can sequence approvals so that they first get a demolition permit, then a foundation permit (if the project is large enough) and then the building permit. In order for the latter to take place effectively, the developer would have to coordinate tightly with a Contractor on a Critical Path Scheme so that everything has a decision point along the Building Permit Construction Schedule. The Developer has to independently obtain Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing permits as well. If the Development team is well experienced, they can have the construction documents nearly ready to go at the time the Development permit is issued, cutting most of that time-frame out of the equation -- and if they then follow the demo:foundation:building permit sequence, they can begin site activity within weeks of the Development Permit being issued. Hope this helps.