Costing £250m, the spectacular Infinity residential development close to Liverpool waterfront stalled in 2020 – but investors have now secured a legal breakthrough that may restart progress on the site. Tony McDonough reports
A legal agreement may lead to movement on the most high profile stalled development site in Liverpool city centre.
Costing£250m, the spectacular Infinity residential development close to Liverpool waterfront stalled in 2020. It was set to comprise 1,000 apartments across three high-rise towers, the tallest of which would have risen to 38 storeys.
It was first unveiled by The Elliot Group in 2017. However, in December 2019 Elliot Group founder, Elliot Lawless, was arrested by Merseyside Police.
He was detained as part of the wider Operation Aloft probe into deals between property developers and Liverpool City Council. He was released without charge shortly afterwards and denied
The High Court later refused a police application to extend his bail and declared the search warrant and the search of his home unlawful. The police subsequently agreed to pay Mr Lawless’s legal fees and in 2025 the police confirmed he would face no charges.
However, the fallout from the arrest rocked investor confidence, causing several projects to stall in Liverpool and Manchester. All of those other schemes were picked up and completed but Infinity still remains stalled.
On Tuesday Place North West reported that lawyers for investors in the Leeds Street site, Isadore Goldman, had cleared a lease from the site’s title that was obstructing progress.
Those investors bought the site out of administration in April 2022 for almost £6m in the hope of taking the project forward. Now the latest legal deal means they are fully in control of the site for the first time.
Nick Oliver, director of Isadore Goldman, said: “For years, investors have been told that when a development scheme collapses their options are very limited.
“This landmark settlement clears the roadblock that stopped more than 200 investors from getting back what they are owed from the Infinity Water site.
“It also shows that with a clear legal strategy and perseverance, investors let down by a failed development can take back control of the insolvency process and come out on top.”
READ MORE: ‘Let’s dare to dream… and bring back the trams’
However, it remains to be seen whether Infinity will still go ahead with its original design. The development market has moved on since 2020 and several developments in the same area are now under way or planned.
Liverpool developer Legacie is well advanced on a £200m project to build 656 apartments at a scheme just yards away. Infinity also sits in the shadow of the huge £1.2bn Kings Project.
Backed by Home Bargains billionaire Tom Morris, Kings will be a mixed-used development comprising 10 skyscrapers, one as high as 70 storeys, as well as commercial and leisure space.