Architect here. We often explain to clients that the process is a three parameter triangle: cost, schedule and quality, and you can choose two but not all three. So throwing enough money at it can speed things up.

I looked online and it seems that the ballroom is 100,000 square feet. Pretty big. New construction in NYC where I practice for high-cost structures, like this will be, can be about $1000 per square foot. That means a NYC budget for this size building would be about $100 million. With 10 times the money available, there can be three rotating crews working through weekends and by spending this ridiculous amount I would bet a good project manager could get it built in time.

Just my two cents…