The deal drought in institutional real estate markets appears to be ending, as Goodwin, one of the largest U.S. real estate practices, reports a recent pickup in activity. John Ferguson, co-chair of the firm’s Real Estate group, attributed the surge to large managers and investors combining real estate and infrastructure, driving demand for joint ventures, SMAs, and commingled funds. “After three-ish years of a much more anemic capital raising environment with respect to blind pool funds, where it seemed like everybody was raising capital in a vehicle format other than a fund, this calendar year has been quite active,” Ferguson said in a recent interview with Alternatives Watch. “That’s a notable change from what’s been going on in the hallways here.” Ferguson's division serves more than 200 real estate managers and focuses on middle- and upper middle-market fundraising. LPs in existing funds were not cashing out as quickly as they had previously, according to Ferguson.