Having issues launching project. Error Takes too long to connect to IDE

New to Crank storyboard, I've been handed down this project to work on.

I've been unable to successfully launch the project constantly getting 'Process "Project" Takes too long to connect to IDE.' when trying to launch it. I've downloaded the front end (crank) and back end (C++ and Visual studios) but do not know what to troubleshoot to successfully launch the application. 

I've contacted support for over a week and upgraded from 7.2 to 8.0 but that didn't change anything either. Is the issue that Crank can't connect to VS? Is there something I need to do to connect them?
Any guide or advice is appreciated.