Goodwin Real Estate Attorney Eyes Tariffs At Capital-Raising Stage (Law360)

A year after President Donald Trump's “Liberation Day” speech, tariffs are coming up in the context of capital-raising for real estate deals, one of Goodwin’s Real Estate leaders told Law360 in a recent interview. John Ferguson, co-chair of real estate at Goodwin, said foreign investors doing deals in the US are sometimes now asking for additional provisions and terms at the capital-raising stage given the uncertainty that tariffs and potential tariffs have created over the past year. Ferguson, a partner, was earlier co-chair of Private Investment Funds at Goodwin and works out of the firm’s New York office. He also discussed the war in Iran and interest rates, noting the possibility that interest rates may rise despite the real estate community’s hopes for a reduction. “It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster. We represent about 250 different real estate investment managers who have funds and other types of vehicles with capital, and a lot of that capital, probably close to half if not more, has historically come from outside the US. There was an initial wave of disbelief, and it absolutely seemed to have a chilling effect on what our clients were hearing and seeing in terms of non-US investors expressing interest,” Ferguson said. “I’m on the investment fund formation side, and where I see it come up typically is with managers first raising the capital or trying to capitalize their funds or vehicles or their deal. I have not seen it come up in negotiating a purchase and a sale or a transaction itself. Where I've seen it come up more is on the capital-raising side and the sourcing of the capital to do a deal in the first place.”