The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and we are not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED APRIL 27, 2012

PROSPECTUS

            , 2012

TIAA REAL ESTATE ACCOUNT

A Tax-Deferred Variable Annuity Option Offered by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”)

This prospectus tells you about the TIAA Real Estate Account, an investment option offered through individual and group variable annuity contracts issued by TIAA. Please read it carefully before investing and keep it for future reference.

The Real Estate Account, which we refer to sometimes as “the Account” in this prospectus, invests primarily in real estate and real estate-related investments. TIAA, one of the largest and most experienced mortgage and real estate investors in the nation, manages the Account’s assets.

The value of your investment in the Real Estate Account will go up or down depending on how the Account performs and you could lose money. The Account’s performance depends mainly on the value of the Account’s real estate and other real estate-related investments, the income generated by those investments and the Account’s expenses. The Account’s returns could go down if, for example, real estate values or rental and occupancy rates, or the value of real estate-related securities, decrease due to general economic conditions and/or a weak market for real estate generally. Property operating costs, costs associated with leverage on the Account’s properties, and government regulations, such as zoning or environmental laws, could also affect a property’s profitability. TIAA does not guarantee the investment performance of the Account, and you will bear the entire investment risk. For a detailed discussion of the specific risks of investing in the Account, see “Risk Factors” on page 14.

We take deductions daily from the Account’s net assets for the Account’s operating and investment management expenses. The Account also pays TIAA for bearing mortality and expense risks and for providing a liquidity guarantee. The current estimated annual expense deductions from the Account’s net assets over the next 12 months total 0.920%.

The Real Estate Account is designed as an option for retirement and tax-deferred savings plans for employees of non-profit and governmental institutions. TIAA currently offers the Real Estate Account under the following annuity contracts:

Note that state regulatory approval may be pending for certain of these contracts and they may not currently be available in your state. TIAA may also offer the Real Estate Account as an investment option under additional contracts, both at the individual and plan sponsor level, in the future.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy of the information in this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

An investment in the Real Estate Account is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Please see Appendix C for definitions of certain special terms used in this prospectus.

The Real Estate Account securities offered by this prospectus are only being offered in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so. No person may make any representation to you or give you any information about the offering that is not in the prospectus. If anyone provides you with information about the offering that is not in the prospectus, you shouldn’t rely on it.

 PROSPECTUS SUMMARY
 
 
 TIAA REAL ESTATE ACCOUNT

You should read this summary together with the more detailed information regarding the Account, including the Account’s financial statements and related notes, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. More information about the Account may be obtained by writing us at 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-3206, calling us at 877 518- 9161 or visiting our website at www.tiaa-cref.org.

ABOUT THE TIAA REAL ESTATE ACCOUNT

The TIAA Real Estate Account was established in February 1995 as a separate account of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”) and interests in the Account were first offered to eligible participants on October 2, 1995. The Account offers individual and group accumulating annuity contracts (with contributions made on a pre-tax or after-tax basis), as well as individual lifetime and term-certain variable payout annuity contracts (including the payment of death benefits to beneficiaries). Investors are entitled to transfer funds to or from the Account under certain circumstances. Funds invested in the Account for each category of contract are expressed in terms of units, and unit values will fluctuate depending on the Account’s performance.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Account seeks favorable long-term returns primarily through rental income and appreciation of real estate and real estate-related investments owned by the Account. The Account will also invest in non-real estate-related publicly traded securities and short-term higher quality liquid investments that are easily converted to cash to enable the Account to meet participant redemption requests, purchase or improve properties or cover other expense needs.

INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Real Estate-Related Investments. The Account intends to have between 75% and 85% of its net assets invested directly in real estate or real estate-related investments with the goal of producing favorable long-term returns primarily through rental income and appreciation. These investments may consist of:

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus3

•				real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), which investments may consist of common or preferred stock interests,
•				investments in equity or debt securities of companies whose operations involve real estate (i.e., that primarily own or manage real estate) which may not be REITs, and
•				conventional mortgage loans, participating mortgage loans, and collateralized mortgage obligations, including commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) and other similar investments.

The Account’s principal strategy is to purchase direct ownership interests in income-producing real estate, primarily office, industrial, retail and multi-family residential properties. The Account is targeted to hold between 65% and 80% of the Account’s net assets in such direct ownership interests at any time. Historically, over 70% of the Account’s net assets have been comprised of such direct ownership interests in real estate.

In addition, while the Account is authorized to hold up to 25% of its net assets in liquid real estate-related securities, such as REITs and CMBS, management intends that the Account will not hold more than 10% of its net assets in such securities on a long-term basis. Historically, less than 10% of the Account’s net assets have been comprised of interests in these securities. In particular, under the Account’s current investment guidelines, the Account is authorized to hold up to 10% of its net assets in CMBS. As of December 31, 2011, REIT securities comprised approximately 6.9% of the Account’s net assets, and the Account held no CMBS as of such date.

Non-Real Estate-Related Investments. The Account will invest the remaining portion of its assets (targeted to be between 15% and 25% of its net assets) in publicly-traded, liquid investments; namely:

However, from time to time (most recently between late 2008 and mid 2010), the Account’s non-real estate-related liquid investments may comprise less than 15% (and possibly less than 10%) of its assets (on a net basis and/or a gross basis), especially during and immediately following periods of significant net participant outflows, in particular due to significant participant transfer activity. In addition, the Account, from time to time and on a temporary basis, may hold in excess of 25% of its net assets in non-real estate-related liquid investments, particularly during times of significant inflows into the Account and/or a lack of attractive real estate-related investments available in the market.

Liquid Securities. Primarily due to management’s need to manage fluctuations in cash flows, in particular during and immediately following

4Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

periods of significant participant net transfer activity into or out of the Account, the Account may, on a temporary basis (i) exceed the upper end of its targeted holdings (currently 35% of the Account’s net assets) in liquid securities of all types, including both publicly traded non-real estate-related liquid investments and liquid real estate-related securities, such as REITs and CMBS, or (ii) be below the low end of its targeted holdings in such liquid securities (currently 15% of the Account’s net assets).

The portion of the Account’s net assets invested in liquid investments of all types may exceed the upper end of its target, for example, if (i) the Account receives a large inflow of money in a short period of time, in particular due to significant participant transfer activity into the Account, (ii) the Account receives significant proceeds from sales of direct real estate assets, (iii) there is a lack of attractive direct real estate investments available on the market, and/or (iv) the Account anticipates more near-term cash needs, including to apply to acquire direct real estate investments, pay expenses or repay indebtedness.

Foreign Investments. The Account from time to time will also make foreign real estate investments. Under the Account’s investment guidelines, investments in direct foreign real estate, together with foreign real estate-related securities and foreign non-real estate-related liquid investments, may not comprise more than 25% of the Account’s net assets. However, through the date of this prospectus, such foreign real estate-related investments have never represented more than 7.5% of the Account’s net assets and management does not intend such foreign investments to exceed 10% of the Account’s net assets. As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s foreign assets represented approximately 2.0% of the Account’s net assets (after netting out the fair value of debt on our foreign properties).

Investments Summary. At December 31, 2011, the Account’s net assets totaled approximately $13.5 billion. As of that date, the Account’s investments in real estate properties, real estate joint ventures, limited partnerships and real estate-related marketable securities, net of the fair value of mortgage loans payable on real estate, represented 78.8% of the Account’s net assets.

At December 31, 2011, the Account held a total of 101 real estate property investments (including its interests in 11 real estate-related joint ventures), representing 73.9% of the Account’s total investments, measured on a gross asset value basis (“Total Investments”). As of that date, the Account also held investments in REIT equity securities (representing 6.0% of Total Investments), real estate limited partnerships (representing 2.0% of Total Investments), government agency notes (representing 10.0% of Total Investments) and U.S. Treasury Bills (representing 8.1% of Total Investments). See the Account’s audited financial statements for more information as to the Account’s investments as of December 31, 2011.

Borrowing. The Account is authorized to borrow money in accordance with its investment guidelines. Under the Account’s current investment guidelines, management intends to maintain the Account’s loan to value ratio at or below

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus5

30%. The Account’s “loan to value ratio” at any time is based on the outstanding principal amount of the Account’s debt to the Account’s total gross asset value. This ratio will be measured at the time of any debt incurrence and will be assessed after giving effect thereto.

As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s loan to value ratio was approximately 20.8%.

In addition, the Account may borrow up to 70% of the then-current value of a particular property. Non-construction mortgage loans on a property will be non-recourse to the Account. See “General Investment and Operating Policies — Other Real Estate-Related Policies — Borrowing” on page 41.

SUMMARY OF EXPENSE DEDUCTIONS

Expense deductions are made each valuation day from the net assets of the Account for various services to manage the Account’s investments, administer the Account and the contracts, distribute the contracts and to cover certain risks borne by TIAA. Investment management, administration and distribution services are provided “at cost” by TIAA and TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC (“Services”), a registered broker-dealer and wholly owned subsidiary of TIAA. Currently, TIAA provides investment management services and administration services for the Account, and Services provides distribution services for the Account. In addition, TIAA charges the Account a fee to bear certain mortality and expense risks, and risks associated with providing the liquidity guarantee. TIAA guarantees that in the aggregate, the expense charges will never be more than 2.50% of average net assets per year.

The estimated annual expense deduction rate that appears in the expense table below reflects an estimate of the amount we currently expect to deduct to approximate the costs that the Account will incur from May 1, 2012 through April 30, 2013. Actual expenses may be higher or lower. The expenses identified in the table below do not include any fees which may be imposed by your employer under a plan maintained by your employer.

Please see “Expense Deductions” on page 65 and “Selected Financial Data” on page 69 for additional information.

6Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

TIAA currently does not impose a fee on transfers from the Account, but reserves the right to impose a fee on transfers from the Account in the future.

Example. The following table shows you an example of the expenses you would incur on a hypothetical investment of $10,000 in the TIAA Real Estate Account over several periods. The table assumes a 5% annual return on assets and an annual expense deduction equal to 0.920%. These figures do not represent actual expenses or investment performance, which may differ.

SUMMARY RISK FACTORS

The value of your investment in the Account will fluctuate based on the value of the Account’s assets and the income the assets generate. You may lose money by investing in this Account. The Account’s assets and income can be affected by many factors, and you should consider the specific risks presented in this prospectus before investing in the Account. The principal risks include the following:

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus7

				value ratios on the Account’s properties (including the fact that the Account may have limited, or no net value in such a property), the risk that significant sums of cash could be required to make principal and interest payments on the loans and the risk that the Account may not have the ability to obtain financing or refinancing on favorable terms (or at all), which may be aggravated by general disruptions in credit and capital markets;
•				Participant Transactions and Cash Management: Investment risk associated with participant transactions, in particular that (i) significant net participant transfers out of the Account may impair our ability to pursue or consummate new investment opportunities that are otherwise attractive to the Account and/or may result in sales of real estate-related assets to generate liquidity, (ii) significant net participant transfers into the Account may result, on a temporary basis, in our cash holdings and/or holdings in liquid real estate-related investments exceeding our long-term targeted holding levels and (iii) high levels of cash in the Account during times of appreciating real estate values can impair the Account’s overall return;
•				Joint Venture Investments: The risks associated with joint venture partnerships, including the risk that a co-venturer may have interests or goals inconsistent with that of the Account, that a co-venturer may have financial difficulties, and the risk that the Account may have limited rights with respect to operation of the property and transfer of the Account’s interest;
•				Regulatory Matters: Uncertainties associated with environmental liability and regulations and other governmental regulatory matters such as zoning laws, rent control laws, and property taxes;
•				Foreign Investments: The risks associated with purchasing, owning and disposing foreign investments (primarily real estate properties), including political risk, the risk associated with currency fluctuations, regulatory and taxation risks and risks of enforcing judgments;
•				Conflicts of Interest: Conflicts of interest associated with TIAA serving as investment manager of the Account and provider of the liquidity guarantee at the same time as TIAA and its affiliates are serving as an investment manager to other real estate accounts or funds, including conflicts associated with satisfying its fiduciary duties to all such accounts and funds associated with purchasing, selling and leasing of properties;
•				Required Property Sales: The risk that, if TIAA were to own too large a percentage of the Account’s accumulation units through funding the liquidity guarantee (as determined by the independent fiduciary), the independent fiduciary could require the sales of properties to reduce TIAA’s ownership interest, which sales could occur at times and at prices that depress the sale proceeds to the Account;

8Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

•				Government and Government Agency Securities: Risks associated with investment securities issued by U.S. government agencies and U.S. government-sponsored entities, including the risk that the issuer may not have their securities backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and that transaction activity may fluctuate significantly from time to time, which could negatively impact the value of the securities and the Account’s ability to dispose of a security at a favorable time; and
•				Liquid Assets and Securities: Risks associated with investments in real estate-related liquid assets (which could include, from time to time, REIT securities and CMBS), and non-real estate-related liquid assets, including:

•				Financial/credit risk — Risks that the issuer will not be able to pay principal and interest when due or that the issuer’s earnings will fall;
•				Market volatility risk — Risk that the changing conditions in financial markets may cause the Account’s investments to experience price volatility;
•				Interest rate volatility risk — Risk that interest rate volatility may affect the Account’s current income from an investment; and
•				Deposit/money market risk — Risk that the Account could experience losses if banks fail.

More detailed discussions of these risks and other risk factors associated with an investment in the Account are contained starting on page 14 of this prospectus in the section entitled “Risk Factors.”

VALUING THE ACCOUNT’S ASSETS

The assets of the Account are valued at the close of each valuation day and the Account calculates and publishes a unit value, which is available on TIAA-CREF’s website (www.tiaa-cref.org), for each valuation day. The values of the Account’s properties are adjusted daily to account for capital expenditures and appraisals as they occur.

With respect to the Account’s real property investments, following the initial purchase of a property or the making of a mortgage loan on a property by the Account (at which time the Account normally receives an independent appraisal on such property), each of the Account’s real properties are appraised, and mortgage loans are valued, at least once every calendar quarter. Each of the Account’s real estate properties is appraised each quarter by an independent external state-certified (or its foreign equivalent) appraiser (which we refer to in this prospectus as an “independent appraiser”) who is a member of a professional appraisal organization. In addition, TIAA’s internal appraisal staff performs a review of each of these quarterly appraisals, in conjunction with the Account’s independent fiduciary, and TIAA’s internal appraisal staff or the independent fiduciary may request an additional appraisal or valuation outside of this quarterly cycle. Any differences in the conclusions of TIAA’s internal appraisal staff and the independent appraiser will be reviewed by the independent fiduciary, which will make a final

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus9

determination on the matter (which may include ordering a subsequent independent appraisal).

In general, the Account obtains appraisals of its real estate properties spread out throughout the quarter, which is intended to result in appraisal adjustments and thus adjustments to the valuations of its holdings (to the extent adjustments are made) that happen regularly throughout each quarter and not on one specific day in each period. In addition, an estimated daily equivalent of net operating income is taken into consideration and is adjusted for actual transactional activity. The remaining assets in the Account are primarily marketable securities that are priced on a daily basis and are included in the Account’s daily unit value.

As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s net assets totaled approximately $13.5 billion. See “Valuing the Account’s Assets” on page 58 for more information on how each class of the Account’s investments are valued.

PAST PERFORMANCE

The bar chart and performance table below illustrate how investment performance during the accumulation period has varied. The chart shows the Account’s total return (which includes all expenses) during the accumulation period over each of the last ten calendar years. It also shows the Account’s returns during the accumulation period for the one-, three-, five- and ten-year periods through December 31, 2011. These returns represent the total return during each such year and reflect both the Account’s investment income and capital appreciation from the Account’s total investments during each such year. How the Account has performed in the past is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. Please see “Risk Factors” beginning on page 14.

Best quarter: 5.68%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

Worst quarter: –13.18%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2008.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2011)

10Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

ABOUT TIAA AND TIAA’S ROLE WITH THE ACCOUNT

TIAA is the companion organization of the College Retirement Equities Fund (“CREF”), the first company in the United States to issue a variable annuity. CREF is a nonprofit membership corporation established in New York State in 1952. Together, TIAA and CREF, serving approximately 3.8 million people and approximately 15,000 institutions as of December 31, 2011, form the principal retirement system for the nation’s education and research communities and form one of the largest pension systems in the U.S., based on assets under management. As of December 31, 2011, TIAA’s total statutory admitted assets were approximately $225.9 billion; the combined assets under management for TIAA, CREF and other entities within the TIAA-CREF organization (including TIAA-sponsored mutual funds) totaled approximately $464.4 billion. CREF does not stand behind TIAA’s guarantees and TIAA does not guarantee CREF products.

The Account does not have officers, directors or employees. TIAA employees, under the direction and control of TIAA’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) and its Investment Committee, manage the investment of the Account’s assets, following investment management procedures TIAA has adopted for the Account. In addition, TIAA performs administration functions for the Account (which include receiving and allocating premiums, calculating and making annuity payments and providing recordkeeping and other services). Distribution services for the Account (which include, without limitation, distribution of the annuity contracts, advising existing annuity contract owners in connection with their accumulations and helping employers implement and manage retirement plans) are performed by Services. TIAA and Services provide investment management, administration and distribution services, as applicable, on an “at-cost” basis.

With its over 60 years in the real estate business and interests in properties located across the U.S. and internationally, TIAA is one of the nation’s largest and most experienced investors in mortgages and real estate equity interests. As of December 31, 2011, the TIAA General Account had a mortgage and real property portfolio (including interests in TIAA subsidiaries that hold real estate, real estate funds and joint ventures but excluding Real Estate Account units owned by TIAA, mortgage-backed securities and REIT securities) valued at approximately $21.0 billion.

Liquidity Guarantee. In the event that the Account’s level of liquidity is not sufficient to guarantee that Account participants may redeem their accumulation units (at their accumulation unit value as of the date of such redemption request received in good order), the TIAA General Account will purchase accumulation units issued by the Account (sometimes called “liquidity units”) in accordance with its liquidity guarantee. The cost of this guarantee is embedded in the overall expense charge of the Account. This liquidity guarantee is not a guarantee of either investment performance or the value of units in the Account.

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus11

This liquidity guarantee was first exercised in December 2008 and, as of the date of this prospectus, has not been exercised since June 2009. As of December 31, 2011, TIAA owns 4.7 million liquidity units, representing approximately 8.8% of the Account’s outstanding accumulation units as of such date. The Account’s independent fiduciary is vested with oversight of the liquidity guarantee, including overseeing the timing of any redemption of liquidity units held by TIAA.

The independent fiduciary currently intends to cause systematic redemptions of the liquidity units as follows. The independent fiduciary intends to cause a redemption of approximately one-quarter of the liquidity units held by TIAA on a daily basis throughout the third month of each calendar quarter, beginning June 1, 2012, so long as (i) the Account holds and is projected to hold at least 17% of its net assets in cash, cash equivalents and publicly traded, liquid non-real estate related securities, after taking into account certain projected sources and uses of cash flow into the Account, and (ii) recent historical net participant flows have been positive over the 20 business days prior to such redemption. If these conditions (along with other conditions and factors which the independent fiduciary may apply) are met consistently following June 1, 2012, TIAA would be fully redeemed by the end of March 2013. In addition, at any time the Account holds cash, cash equivalents and publicly traded, liquid non-real estate related securities in excess of 25% of its net assets, the independent fiduciary intends to cause a redemption of liquidity units in an amount equal to the Account’s average net participant flows during the preceding month. The independent fiduciary reserves the right to authorize or direct the redemption of all or a portion of liquidity units at any time. See “Establishing and Managing the Account — The Role of TIAA — Liquidity Guarantee” on page 45 and “— Role of the Independent Fiduciary” on page 47.

THE CONTRACTS

TIAA offers the Account as a variable option for the annuity contracts listed on the cover page of this prospectus, although some employer plans may not offer the Account as an option for certain contracts. Each payment to the Account buys a number of accumulation units. Similarly, any transfer or withdrawal from the Account results in the redemption of a number of accumulation units. The price you pay for an accumulation unit, and the price you receive for an accumulation unit when you redeem accumulation units, is the accumulation unit value (which we sometimes call the “AUV”) calculated for the business day on which we receive your purchase, redemption or transfer request in good order (unless you ask for a later date for a redemption or transfer).

The Right to Cancel Your Contract. Generally, you may cancel any RA, SRA, GSRA, Classic IRA, Roth IRA, ATRA or Keogh contract in accordance with the contract’s Right to Examine provision (unless we have begun making annuity payments from it) and subject to the time period regulated by the state in which the contract is issued. Although the contract terms and state law

12Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

provisions differ, you will generally have between 10 and 60 days to exercise this cancellation right.

Transfers and Withdrawals. Subject to the terms of the contracts and your employer’s plan, you can move your money to and from the Account in the following ways:

Importantly, transfers out of the Account to a TIAA or CREF account or into another investment option can be executed on any business day but are limited to once per calendar quarter, although some plans may allow systematic transfers that result in more than one transfer per calendar quarter. Other limited exceptions may apply. Also, transfers to CREF accounts or to certain other options may be restricted by your employer’s plan, current tax law or by the terms of your contract.

In addition, effective March 31, 2011 (or such later date as indicated in the contract or contract endorsement), individual participants are limited from making internal funding vehicle transfers into their Account accumulation if, after giving effect to such transfer, the total value of such participant’s Account accumulation (under all contracts issued to such participant) would exceed $150,000. Categories of transactions that TIAA deems “internal funding vehicle transfers” for purposes of this limitation are described in detail on page 128. As of the date of this prospectus, all jurisdictions in which the Account is offered have approved this limitation, but the effective date of the limitation as applies to an individual participant will be reflected on his or her applicable contract or endorsement form. Please see “How to Transfer and Withdraw Your Money” beginning on page 123.

By limiting these transfers to the Real Estate Account, we expect the amount of funds going into and out of the Account will be more predictable, which we believe will enhance our ability to invest and manage the Real Estate Account’s portfolio with a long-term perspective. Subsequent to March 31, 2011 (the time at which a substantial majority of participants became subject to the limitation), participant inflow levels have been tempered compared to inflow levels prior to this date. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of the Account’s Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources” on page 99 for a discussion of participant flow activity.

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus13

The Annuity Period. Your income payments may be paid out of the Account through a variety of income options. Ordinarily, your annuity payments begin on the date you designate as your annuity starting date, subject to the terms of your employer’s plan. Your initial income payments are based on the value of your accumulation on the last valuation day before the annuity starting date and annuity payments can change after the initial payment based on the Account’s investment experience, the income option you choose and the income change method you choose. Important tax considerations may also apply. See “Receiving Annuity Income” beginning on page 131.

Death Benefits. Subject to the terms of your employer’s plan, TIAA may pay death benefits if you or your annuity partner dies. When you purchase your annuity contract, you name one or more beneficiaries to receive the death benefit if you die. You can change your beneficiaries anytime before you die, and, unless you instruct otherwise, your annuity partner can do the same after your death. Your choice of beneficiary for death benefits may, in some cases, be subject to the consent of your spouse and federal and state law may impose additional restrictions. If you die during the accumulation period, the death benefit is the amount of your accumulation. If you and your annuity partner die during the annuity period while payments are still due under a fixed-period annuity or for the remainder of a guaranteed period, the death benefit is the present value, based on interest at the effective annual rate of 4%, of the unit annuity payments due for the remainder of the period. Death benefits may be paid out during the accumulation period (currently under one of five available methods) or during the annuity period. Ordinarily, death benefits are subject to federal estate tax. Generally, if taken as a lump sum, death benefits would be taxed like complete withdrawals. If taken as annuity benefits, death benefits would be taxed like annuity payments. See “Death Benefits” on page 136.

RISK FACTORS

The value of your investment in the Account will fluctuate based on the value of the Account’s assets, the income the assets generate and the Account’s expenses. You can lose money by investing in the Account. There is risk associated with an investor attempting to “time” an investment in the Account’s units, or effecting a redemption of an investor’s units. The Account’s assets and income can be affected by many factors, and you should consider the specific risks presented below before investing in the Account. In particular, for a discussion of how forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are subject to uncertainties that are difficult to predict, which may be beyond management’s control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or management’s present expectations, please refer to the subsection entitled “Forward-Looking Statements,” which is contained in the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of the Account’s Financial Condition and Results of Operations” on page 71.

14Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH REAL ESTATE INVESTING

General Risks of Acquiring and Owning Real Property: As referenced elsewhere in this prospectus, the substantial majority of the Account’s net assets are comprised of direct ownership interests in real estate. As such, the Account is particularly subject to the risks inherent in acquiring and owning real property, including in particular the following:

The incidence of some or all of these factors could reduce occupancy, rental rates and the market value of the Account’s real properties or interests in investment vehicles (such as limited partnerships) which directly hold real properties.

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus15

				If any or all of these events occur, the Account’s income and performance may be adversely impacted disproportionately by deteriorating economic conditions in those areas or industry sectors in which the Account’s investments are concentrated. Also, the Account could experience a more rapid negative change in the value of its real estate investments than would be the case if its real estate investments were more diversified.
•				Leasing Risk. A number of factors could cause the Account’s rental income, a key source of the Account’s revenue and investment return, to decline, which would adversely impact the Account’s results and investment returns. These factors include the following:

•				A property may be unable to attract new tenants or retain existing tenants. This situation could be exacerbated if a concentration of lease expirations occurred during any one time period or multiple tenants exercise early termination at the same time.
•				The financial condition of our tenants may be adversely impacted, particularly in a prolonged economic downturn. The Account could lose revenue if tenants do not pay rent when contractually obligated, request some form of rent relief and/or default under a lease at one of the Account’s properties. Such a default could occur if a tenant declared bankruptcy, suffered from a lack of liquidity, failed to continue to operate its business or for other reasons. In the event of any such default, we may experience a delay in, or an inability to effect, the enforcement of our rights against that tenant, particularly if that tenant filed for bankruptcy protection. Further, any disputes with tenants could involve costly and time consuming litigation.
•				In the event a tenant vacates its space at one of the Account’s properties, whether as a result of a default, the expiration of the lease term, rejection of the lease in bankruptcy or otherwise, given current market conditions, we may not be able to re-lease the vacant space either (i) for as much as the rent payable under the previous lease or (ii) at all. Also, we may not be able to re-lease such space without incurring substantial expenditures for tenant improvements and other lease-up related costs, while still being obligated for any mortgage payments, real estate taxes and other expenditures related to the property.
•				In some instances, our properties may be specifically suited to and/or outfitted for the particular needs of a certain tenant based on the type of business the tenant operates. For example, many companies desire space with an open floor plan. We may have difficulty obtaining a new tenant for any vacant space in our properties, particularly if the floor plan limits the types of businesses that can use the space without major renovation, which may require us to incur substantial expense in re-planning the space. Also, upon expiration of a lease, the space preferences of our major tenants may no longer align with the space they previously rented, which could cause those tenants to

16Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

				not renew their lease, or may require us to expend significant sums to reconfigure the space to their needs.
•				The Account owns and operates retail properties, which, in addition to the risks listed above, are subject to specific risks, including the insolvency and/or closing of an anchor tenant. Many times, anchor tenants will be “big box” stores and other large retailers that can be particularly adversely impacted by a global recession and reduced consumer spending generally. Factors that can impact the level of consumer spending include increases in fuel and energy costs, residential and commercial real estate and mortgage conditions, labor and healthcare costs, access to credit, consumer confidence and other macroeconomic factors. Under certain circumstances, co-tenancy clauses in tenants’ leases may allow certain tenants in a retail property to terminate their leases, reduce or withhold rental payments when overall occupancy at the property falls below certain minimum levels. The insolvency and/or closing of an anchor tenant may also cause such tenants to terminate their leases, or to fail to renew their leases at expiration.
•				Competition. The Account may face competition for real estate investments from multiple sources, including individuals, corporations, insurance companies or other insurance company separate accounts, as well as real estate limited partnerships, real estate investment funds, commercial developers, pension plans, other institutional and foreign investors and other entities engaged in real estate investment activities. Some of these competitors may have similar financial and other resources as the Account, and/or they may have investment strategies and policies (including the ability to incur significantly more leverage than the Account) that allow them to compete more aggressively for real estate investment opportunities, which could result in the Account paying higher prices for investments, experiencing delays in acquiring investments or failing to consummate such purchases. Any resulting delays in the acquisition of investments, or the failure to consummate acquisitions the Account deems desirable, may increase the Account’s costs or otherwise adversely affect the Account’s investment results.
				In addition, the Account’s properties may be located close to properties that are owned by other real estate investors and that compete with the Account for tenants. These competing properties may be better located, more suitable for tenants than our properties or have owners who may compete more aggressively for tenants, resulting in a competitive advantage for these other properties. We may also face similar competition from other properties that may be developed in the future. This competition may limit the Account’s ability to lease space, increase its costs of securing tenants, limit our ability to maximize our rents and/or require the Account to make capital improvements it otherwise would not, in order to make its properties more attractive to prospective tenants.

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus17

•				Operating Costs. A property’s cash flow could decrease if operating costs, such as property taxes, utilities, litigation expenses associated with a property, maintenance and insurance costs that are not reimbursed by tenants increase in relation to gross rental income, or if the property needs unanticipated repairs and renovations. In addition, our expenses of owning and operating a property are not necessarily reduced when our income from a property is reduced.
•				Condemnation. A governmental agency may condemn and convert for a public use (i.e., through eminent domain) all or a portion of a property owned by the Account. While the Account would receive compensation in connection with any such condemnation, such compensation may not be in an amount the Account believes represents equivalent value for the condemned property. Further, a partial condemnation could impair the ability of the Account to maximize the value of the property during its operation, including making it more difficult to find new tenants or retain existing tenants. Finally, a property which has been subject to a partial condemnation may be more difficult to sell at a price the Account believes is appropriate.
•				Terrorism and Acts of War and Violence. Terrorist attacks may harm our property investments. The Account cannot assure you that there will not be further terrorist attacks against the United States, U.S. businesses or elsewhere in the world. These attacks or armed conflicts may directly or indirectly impact the value of the property we own or that secure our loans. Losses resulting from these types of events may be uninsurable or not insurable to the full extent of the loss suffered. Moreover, any of these events could cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or result in increased volatility in the United States and worldwide financial markets and economy. Such events could also result in economic uncertainty in the United States or abroad. Adverse economic conditions resulting from terrorist activities could reduce demand for space in the Account’s properties and thereby reduce the value of the Account’s properties and therefore your investment return.

General Risks of Selling Real Estate Investments: Among the risks of selling real estate investments are:

18Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

				sustained significant net participant outflows) and also could lead to Account losses. Further, the liquidity guarantee does not serve as a working capital facility or credit line to enhance the Account’s liquidity levels generally, as its purpose is tied to participants having the ability to redeem their accumulation units upon demand (thus, alleviating the Account’s need to dispose of properties solely to increase liquidity levels in what management deems a suboptimal sales environment).
•				The Account may need to provide financing to a purchaser if no cash buyers are available, or if buyers are unable to receive financing on terms enabling them to consummate the purchase. Such seller financing introduces a risk that the counterparty may not perform its obligations to repay the amounts borrowed from the Account to complete the purchase.
•				For any particular property, the Account may be required to make expenditures for improvements to, or to correct defects in, the property before the Account is able to market and/or sell the property.
•				Interests in real estate limited partnerships tend to be in particular illiquid, and the Account may be unable to dispose of such investments at opportune times.

Valuation and Appraisal Risks: Investments in the Account’s assets are stated at fair value, which is defined as the price that would be received to sell the asset in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Determination of fair value, particularly for real estate assets, involves significant judgment. Valuation of the Account’s real estate properties (which comprise a substantial majority of the Account’s net assets) are based on real estate appraisals, which are estimates of property values based on a professional’s opinion and may not be accurate predictors of the amount the Account would actually receive if it sold a property. Appraisals can be subjective in certain respects and rely on a variety of assumptions and conditions at that property or in the market in which the property is located, which may change materially after the appraisal is conducted. Among other things, market prices for comparable real estate may be volatile, in particular if there has been a lack of recent transaction activity in such market. Recent disruptions in the macroeconomy, real estate markets and the credit markets have led to a significant decline in transaction activity in most markets and sectors and the lack of observable transaction data may have made it more difficult for an appraisal to determine the fair value of the Account’s real estate. In addition, a portion of the data used by appraisers is based on historical information at the time the appraisal is conducted, and subsequent changes to such data, after an appraiser has used such data in connection with the appraisal, may not be adequately captured in the appraised value. Also, to the extent that the Account uses a relatively small number of independent appraisers to value a significant portion of its properties, valuations may be subject to any institutional biases of such appraisers and their valuation procedures.

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus19

Further, as the Account generally obtains appraisals on a quarterly basis, there may be circumstances in the period between appraisals or interim valuation adjustments in which the true realizable value of a property is not reflected in the Account’s daily net asset value calculation or in the Account’s periodic financial statements. This disparity may be more apparent when the commercial and/or residential real estate markets experience an overall and possibly dramatic decline (or increase) in property values in a relatively short period of time between appraisals.

If the appraised values of the Account’s properties as a whole are too high, those participants who purchased accumulation units prior to (i) a downward valuation adjustment of a property or multiple properties or (ii) a property or properties being sold for a lower price than the appraised value will be credited with less of an interest than if the value had previously been adjusted downward. Also, those participants who redeem during any such period will have received more than their pro rata share of the value of the Account’s assets, to the detriment of other non-redeeming participants. In particular, appraised property values may prove to be too high (as a whole) in a rapidly declining commercial real estate market. Further, implicit in the Account’s definition of fair value is a principal assumption that there will be a reasonable time to market a given property and that the property will be exchanged between a willing buyer and willing seller in a non-distressed scenario. However, an appraised value may not reflect the actual realizable value that would be obtained in a rush sale where time was of the essence. Also, appraised values may lag actual realizable values to the extent there is significant and rapid economic deterioration in a particular geographic market or a particular sector within a geographic market.

If the appraised values of the Account’s properties as a whole are too low, those participants who redeem prior to (i) an upward valuation adjustment of a property or multiple properties or (ii) a property or properties being sold for a higher price than the appraised value will have received less than their pro rata share of the value of the Account’s assets, and those participants who purchase units during any such period will be credited with more than their pro rata share of the value of the Account’s assets.

Finally, the Account recognizes items of income (such as net operating income from real estate investments, distributions from real estate limited partnerships or joint ventures, or dividends from REIT stocks) and expense in many cases on an intermittent basis, where the Account cannot predict with certainty the magnitude or the timing of such item. As such, even as the Account estimates items of net operating income on a daily basis, the AUV for the Account may fluctuate, perhaps significantly, from day to day, as a result of adjusting these estimates for the actual recognized item of income or expense.

Investment Risk Associated with Participant Transactions: The amount we have available to invest in new properties and other real estate-related assets will depend, in large part, on the level of net participant transfers into

20Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

or out of the Account as well as participant premiums into the Account. As noted elsewhere in this prospectus, the Account intends to hold between 15% and 25% of its net assets in investments other than real estate and real estate-related investments, comprised of publicly traded, liquid investments. These liquid assets are intended to be available to purchase real estate-related investments in accordance with the Account’s investment objective and strategy and are also available to meet participant redemption requests and the Account’s expense needs (including, from time to time, obligations on debt). Significant participant transaction activity into or out of the Account’s units is generally not predictable, and wide fluctuations can occur as a result of macroeconomic or geopolitical conditions, the performance of equities or fixed income securities or general investor sentiment, regardless of the historical performance of the Account or of the performance of the real estate asset class generally.

In the second half of 2008 and in 2009, the Account experienced significant net participant transfers out of the Account. Due in large part to this activity, the TIAA liquidity guarantee was initially executed in December 2008. See “Establishing and Managing the Account — The Role of TIAA — Liquidity Guarantee” on page 45. The Account experienced net participant outflows in 2009, causing the Account’s liquid assets to comprise less than 10% of the Account’s assets (on a net and total basis) throughout all of 2009 and into early 2010. Among other things, this continued shortfall in the amount of liquid assets impaired management’s ability to consummate new transactions. If the amount of net participant transfers out of the Account were to recur, particularly in the high volumes similar to those experienced in late 2008 and 2009, we may not have enough available liquid assets to pursue, or consummate, new investment opportunities presented to us that are otherwise attractive to the Account. This, in turn, could harm the Account’s returns. Even though net transfers out of the Account ceased in early 2010 and, as of the date of this prospectus, the Account has been in a net inflow position since this time, there is no guarantee that redemption activity will not increase again, perhaps in a significant and rapid manner.

Alternatively, periods of significant net transfer activity into the Account can result in the Account holding a higher percentage of its net assets in publicly traded liquid non-real estate-related investments than the Account’s managers would target to hold under the Account’s long-term strategy. Starting with the second quarter of 2010 and through December 31, 2011, the Account experienced net participant transfer activity into the Account in the amount of $2.9 billion. As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s non-real estate-related liquid investments (along with its cash and cash equivalents) comprised 20.8% of its net assets. At times, the portion of the Account’s net assets invested in these types of liquid instruments may exceed 25%, particularly if the Account receives a large inflow of money in a short period of time, coupled with a lack of attractive real estate-related investments on the market. Also, large inflows from participant transactions often occur in times of appreciating

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus21

real estate values and pricing, which can render it challenging to execute on some transactions at ideal prices.

In an appreciating real estate market generally, this large percentage of assets held in liquid investments and not in real estate and real estate-related investments may impair the Account’s overall returns. This scenario may be exacerbated in a low interest rate environment for U.S. Treasury securities and related highly liquid securities, such as has existed since 2009. In addition, to manage cash flow, the Account may temporarily hold a higher percentage of its net assets in liquid real estate-related securities, such as REIT and CMBS securities, than its long-term targeted holdings in such securities, particularly during and immediately following times of significant net transfer activity into the Account. Such holdings could increase the volatility of the Account’s returns.

Risks of Borrowing: The Account acquires some of its properties subject to existing financing and from time to time borrows new funds at the time of purchase. Also, the Account may from time to time place new leverage on, increase the leverage already placed on, or refinance maturing debt on, existing properties the Account owns. Under the Account’s current investment guidelines, the Account intends to maintain its loan to value ratio at or below 30% (measured at the time of incurrence and after giving effect thereto). As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s loan to value ratio was approximately 20.8%. Also, the Account may borrow up to 70% of the then-current value of a particular property. Non-construction mortgage loans on a property will be non-recourse to the Account.

Among the risks of borrowing money or otherwise investing in a property subject to a mortgage are:

22Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

				institutions, the reduced availability of credit facilities and project finance facilities from banks and the fall of consumer and/or business confidence.
•				Default Risk. The property or group of encumbered properties may not generate sufficient cash flow to support the debt service on the loan, the property may fail to meet certain financial or operating covenants contained in the loan documents and/or the property may have negative equity (i.e., the loan balance exceeds the value of the property) or inadequate equity. In any of these circumstances, we may default on the loan, including due to the failure to make required debt service payments when due. If a loan is in default, the Account may determine that it is not economically desirable and/or in the best interests of the Account to continue to make payments on the loan (including accessing other sources of funds to support debt service on the loan), and/or the Account may not be able to otherwise remedy such default on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In either case, the lender then could accelerate the outstanding amount due on the loan and/or foreclose on the underlying property, in which case the Account could lose the value of its investment in the foreclosed property. Further, any such default or acceleration could trigger a default under loan agreements in respect of other Account properties pledged as security for the defaulted loan or other loans. Finally, any such default could increase the Account’s borrowing costs, or result in less favorable terms, with respect to financing future properties.
•				Balloon Maturities. If the Account obtains a mortgage loan that involves a balloon payment, there is a risk that the Account may not be able to make the lump sum principal payment due under the loan at the end of the loan term, or otherwise obtain adequate refinancing on terms commercially acceptable to the Account or at all. The Account then may be forced to sell the property or other properties under unfavorable market conditions, restructure the loan on terms not advantageous to the Account, or default on its mortgage, resulting in the lender exercising its remedies, which may include repossession of the property, and the Account could lose the value of its investment in that property.
•				Variable Interest Rate Risk. If the Account obtains variable-rate loans, the Account’s returns may be volatile when interest rates are volatile. Further, to the extent that the Account takes out fixed-rate loans and interest rates subsequently decline, this may cause the Account to pay interest at above-market rates for a significant period of time. Any hedging activities the Account engages in to mitigate this risk may not fully protect the Account from the impact of interest rate volatility.
•				Valuation Risk. The market valuation of mortgage loans payable could have an adverse impact on the Account’s performance. Valuations of mortgage loans payable are generally based on the amount at which the liability could be transferred in a current transaction, exclusive of transaction costs, and such valuations are subject to a number of assumptions and

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus23

factors with respect to the loan and the underlying property, a change in any of which could cause the value of a mortgage loan to fluctuate.

A general disruption in the credit markets, such as the disruption experienced in 2008 and 2009, may aggravate some or all of these risks.

Risks of Joint Ownership: Investing in joint venture partnerships or other forms of joint property ownership may involve special risks, many of which are exacerbated when the consent of parties other than the Account are required to take action.

24Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

				decision (either to buy our co-venturer’s interest or sell our interest to our co-venturer) at inopportune times.
•				A co-venturer can make it harder for the Account to transfer its equity interest in the venture to a third party, which could adversely impact the valuation of the Account’s interest in the venture.

Risks of Developing or Redeveloping Real Estate or Buying Recently Constructed Properties: If the Account chooses to develop or redevelop a property or buys a recently constructed property, it may face the following risks:

Risks with Purchase-Leaseback Transactions: To the extent the Account invested in a purchase-leaseback transaction, the major risk is that the third party lessee will be unable to make required payments to the Account. If the leaseback interest is subordinate to other interests in the real property, such as a first mortgage or other lien, the risk to the Account increases because the lessee may have to pay the senior lienholder to prevent foreclosure before it pays the Account. If the lessee defaults or the leaseback is terminated prematurely, the Account might not recover its investment unless the property is sold or leased on favorable terms.

Regulatory Risks: Government regulation at the federal, state and local levels, including, without limitation, zoning laws, rent control or rent stabilization laws, laws regulating housing on the Account’s multifamily residential properties, the Americans with Disabilities Act, property taxes and fiscal, accounting, environmental or other government policies, could operate or change in a way that adversely affects the Account and its properties. For example, these regulations could raise the cost of acquiring, owning, improving or maintaining properties, present barriers to otherwise desirable investment

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus25

opportunities or make it harder to sell, rent, finance, or refinance properties either on economically desirable terms, or at all, due to the increased costs associated with regulatory compliance.

Environmental Risks: The Account may be liable for damage to the environment or injury to individuals caused by hazardous substances used or found on its properties. Under various environmental regulations, the Account may also be liable, as a current or previous property owner or mortgagee, for the cost of removing or cleaning up hazardous substances found on a property, even if it did not know of and wasn’t responsible for the hazardous substances. If any hazardous substances are present or the Account does not properly clean up any hazardous substances, or if the Account fails to comply with regulations requiring it to actively monitor the business activities on its premises, the Account may have difficulty selling or renting a property or be liable for monetary penalties. Further, environmental laws may impose restrictions on the manner in which a property may be used, the tenants which may be allowed, or the manner in which businesses may be operated, which may require the Account to expend funds. These laws may also cause the most ideal use of the property to differ from that originally contemplated and as a result could impair the Account’s returns. The cost of any required cleanup relating to a single real estate investment (including remediating contaminated property) and the Account’s potential liability for environmental damage, including paying personal injury claims and performing under indemnification obligations to third parties, could exceed the value of the Account’s investment in a property, the property’s value, or in an extreme case, a significant portion of the Account’s assets. Finally, while we may from time to time acquire third-party insurance related to environmental risks, such insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover the full cost of any loss and would cause us to be reliant on the financial health of our third-party insurer at the time any such claim is submitted.

Uninsurable Losses: Certain catastrophic losses (e.g., from earthquakes, wars, terrorist acts, nuclear accidents, wind, floods or environmental or industrial hazards or accidents) may be uninsurable or so expensive to insure against that it is economically disadvantageous to buy insurance for them. Further, the terms and conditions of the insurance coverage the Account has on its properties, in conjunction with the type of loss actually suffered at a property, may subject the property, or the Account as a whole, to a cap on insurance proceeds that is less than the loss or losses suffered. If a disaster that we have not insured against occurs, if the insurance contains a high deductible, and/or if the aggregate insurance proceeds for a particular type of casualty are capped, the Account could lose some of its original investment and any future profits from the property. Also, the Account may not have sufficient access to internal or external sources of funding to repair or reconstruct a damaged property to the extent insurance proceeds do not cover the full loss. In addition, some leases may permit a tenant to terminate its obligations in certain situations, regardless of whether those events are fully covered by

26Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

insurance. In that case, the Account would not receive rental income from the property while that tenant’s space is vacant, and any such vacancy might impact the value of that property. Finally, as with respect to all third-party insurance, we are reliant on the continued financial health of such insurers and their ability to pay on valid claims. If the financial health of an insurer were to deteriorate quickly, we may not be able to find adequate coverage from another carrier on favorable terms, which could adversely impact the Account’s returns.

RISKS OF INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST SECURITIES

The Account invests in REIT securities for diversification, liquidity management and other purposes. The Account’s investment in REITs may also increase, as a percentage of net assets, during periods in which the Account is experiencing large net inflow activity, in particular due to net participant transfers into the Account. As of December 31, 2011, REIT securities comprised approximately 6.9% of the Account’s net assets. Investments in REIT securities are part of the Account’s real estate-related investment strategy and are subject to many of the same general risks associated with direct real property ownership. In particular, equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the entity, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. In addition to these risks, because REIT investments are securities and generally publicly traded, they may be exposed to market risk and potentially significant price volatility due to changing conditions in the financial markets and, in particular, changes in overall interest rates, regardless of the value of the underlying real estate such REIT may own. Also, sales of REIT securities by the Account for liquidity management purposes may occur at times when values of such securities have declined and it is otherwise an inopportune time to sell the security. Volatility in REITs can cause significant fluctuations in the Account’s AUV on a daily basis, as they are correlated to equity markets which have experienced significant day to day fluctuations over the past few years.

REITs do not pay federal income taxes if they distribute most of their earnings to their shareholders and meet other tax requirements. Many of the requirements to qualify as a REIT, however, are highly technical and complex. Failure to qualify as a REIT results in tax consequences, as well as disqualification from operating as a REIT for a period of time. Consequently, if we invest in a REIT security that later fails to qualify as a REIT, this may adversely affect the performance of our investment.

RISKS OF MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES

The Account from time to time has invested in mortgage-backed securities and may in the future invest in such securities. Mortgage-backed securities, such as CMBS, are subject to many of the same general risks inherent in real estate investing, making mortgage loans and investing in debt securities. The underlying mortgage loans may experience defaults with greater frequency than projected when such mortgages were underwritten, which would impact

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus27

the values of these securities, and could hamper our ability to sell such securities. In particular, these types of investments may be subject to prepayment risk or extension risk (i.e., the risk that borrowers will repay the loans earlier or later than anticipated). If the underlying mortgage assets experience faster than anticipated prepayments of principal, the Account could fail to recoup some or all of its initial investment in these securities, since the original price paid by the Account was based in part on assumptions regarding the receipt of interest payments. If the underlying mortgage assets are repaid later than anticipated, the Account could lose the opportunity to reinvest the anticipated cash flows at a time when interest rates might be rising. The rate of prepayments depends on a variety of geographic, social and other functions, including prevailing market interest rates and general economic factors. Further, it is possible that the U.S. Government may change its support of, and policies regarding, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and, thus, the Account may be unable to acquire agency mortgage-backed securities in the future and even if the Account so acquired them, such changes may result in a negative effect on the pricing of such securities. Other policy changes impacting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and/or U.S. Government programs related to mortgages that may be implemented in the future could create market uncertainty and affect the actual or perceived credit quality of issued securities, adversely affecting mortgage-backed securities through an increased of risk of loss.

Importantly, the market value of these securities is also highly sensitive to changes in interest rates, liquidity of the secondary market and economic conditions impacting financial institutions and the credit markets generally. Note that the potential for appreciation, which could otherwise be expected to result from a decline in interest rates, may be limited by any increased prepayments. Further, volatility and disruption in the mortgage market and credit markets generally (such as was recently the case, particularly in 2008 and 2009) may cause there to be a very limited or even no secondary market for these securities and they therefore may be harder to sell than other securities.

RISKS OF U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY SECURITIES AND CORPORATE OBLIGATIONS

The Account invests in securities issued by U.S. government agencies and U.S. government-sponsored entities. Some of these issuers may not have their securities backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, which could adversely affect the pricing and value of such securities. Also, the Account may invest in corporate obligations (such as commercial paper) and while the Account seeks out such holdings in short-term, higher-quality liquid instruments, the ability of the Account to sell these securities may be uncertain, particularly when there are general dislocations in the finance or credit markets, such as has recently been the case. Any such volatility could have a negative impact on the value of these securities. Further, transaction activity generally may fluctuate significantly from time to time, which could

28Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

impair the Account’s ability to dispose of a security at a favorable time, regardless of the credit quality of the underlying issuer. Also, inherent with investing in any corporate obligation is the risk that the credit quality of the issuer will deteriorate, which could cause the obligations to be downgraded and hamper the value or the liquidity of these securities. Finally, continued downgrades or threatened downgrades of the credit rating for U.S. government obligations generally could impact the pricing and liquidity of agency securities or corporate obligations in a manner which could impact the value of the Account’s units.

RISKS OF LIQUID INVESTMENTS

The Account’s investments in liquid investments (whether real estate-related, such as REITs, CMBS or some mortgage loans receivable, or non-real estate-related, such as cash equivalents and government securities, and whether debt or equity), are subject to the following general risks:

Further, to the extent that a significant portion of the Account’s net assets at any particular time are comprised of cash, cash equivalents and non-real estate-related liquid securities, the Account’s returns may suffer as compared to the return that could have been generated by more profitable real estate-related investments.

RISKS OF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS

In addition to other investment risks noted above, foreign investments present the following special risks:

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus29

•				The value of foreign investments or rental income can increase or decrease due to changes in currency rates, currency exchange control regulations, possible expropriation or confiscatory taxation, political, social, and economic developments and foreign regulations. The Account translates into U.S. dollars purchases and sales of securities, income receipts and expense payments made in foreign currencies at the exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of the transactions. The effect of any changes in currency exchange rates on investments and mortgage loans payable is included in the Account’s net realized and unrealized gains and losses. As such, fluctuations in currency exchange rates may impair the Account’s returns.
•				The Account may, but is not required to, hedge its exposure to changes in currency rates, which could involve extra costs. Further, any hedging activities might not be successful. In addition, a lender to a foreign property owned by the Account could require the Account to compensate it for its loss associated with such lender’s hedging activities.
•				Non-U.S. jurisdictions may impose taxes on the Account as a result of its investment activity in that jurisdiction. TIAA may be eligible for a foreign tax credit in respect of such tax paid by the Account and such credit (if available to TIAA) would be reimbursed to the Account. However, there may be circumstances where TIAA is unable to receive some or all of the benefit of a foreign tax credit and the Account would thus not receive reimbursement, which could harm the value of the Account’s units.
•				Foreign real estate markets may have different liquidity and volatility attributes than U.S. markets.
•				The regulatory environment in non-U.S. jurisdictions may disfavor owners and operators of real estate investment properties, resulting in less predictable and/or economically harmful outcomes if the Account were to face a significant dispute with a tenant or with a regulator itself.
•				It may be more difficult to obtain and collect a judgment on foreign investments than on domestic investments, and the costs associated with contesting claims relating to foreign investments may exceed those costs associated with a similar claim on domestic investments.
•				We may invest from time to time in securities issued by (1) entities domiciled in foreign countries, (2) domestic affiliates of such entities and/or (3) foreign domiciled affiliates of domestic entities. Such investments could be subject to the risks associated with investments subject to foreign regulation, including political unrest or the repatriation or nationalization of the issuer’s assets. These events could depress the value of such securities and/or make such securities harder to sell on favorable terms, if at all.

RISKS OF INVESTING IN MORTGAGE LOANS

The Account’s investment strategy includes, to a limited extent, investments in mortgage loans (i.e., the Account serving as lender).

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•				General Risks of Mortgage Loans. The Account will be subject to the risks inherent in making mortgage loans, including:

•				The borrower may default on the loan, requiring that the Account foreclose on the underlying property to protect the value of its mortgage loan. Since its mortgage loans are usually non-recourse, the Account must rely solely on the value of a property for its security.
•				The larger the mortgage loan compared to the value of the property securing it, the greater the loan’s risk. Upon default, the Account may not be able to sell the property for its estimated or appraised value. Also, certain liens on the property, such as mechanics or tax liens, may have priority over the Account’s security interest.
•				A deterioration in the financial condition of tenants, which could be caused by general or local economic conditions or other factors beyond the control of the Account, or the bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant, may adversely affect the income of a property, which could increase the likelihood that the borrower will default under its obligations.
•				The borrower may be unable to make a lump sum principal payment due under a mortgage loan at the end of the loan term, unless it can refinance the mortgage loan with another lender.
•				If interest rates are volatile during the loan period, the Account’s variable-rate mortgage loans could have volatile yields. Further, to the extent the Account makes mortgage loans with fixed interest rates, it may receive lower yields than that which is then available in the market if interest rates rise generally.

•				Prepayment Risks. The Account’s mortgage loan investments will usually be subject to the risk that the borrower repays a loan early. Also, we may be unable to reinvest the proceeds at as high an interest rate as the original mortgage loan rate.
•				Interest Limitations. The interest rate we charge on mortgage loans may inadvertently violate state usury laws that limit rates, if, for example, state law changes during the loan term. If this happens, we could incur penalties or may be unable to enforce payment of the loan.
•				Risks of Participations. To the extent the Account invested in a participating mortgage, the following additional risks would apply:

•				The participation feature, in tying the Account’s returns to the performance of the underlying asset, might generate insufficient returns to make up for the higher interest rate the loan would have obtained without the participation feature.
•				In very limited circumstances, a court may characterize the Account’s participation interest as a partnership or joint venture with the borrower and the Account could lose the priority of its security interest or become liable for the borrower’s debts.

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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST WITHIN TIAA

General. TIAA and its affiliates (including Teachers Advisors, Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary and a registered investment adviser) have interests in other real estate programs and accounts and also engage in other business activities and as such, they will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time between the Account’s business and these other activities. Also, the Account may be buying properties at the same time as TIAA affiliates that may have similar investment objectives to those of the Account. There is also a risk that TIAA will choose a property that provides lower returns to the Account than a property purchased by TIAA and its affiliates. Further, the Account will likely acquire properties in geographic areas where TIAA and its affiliates own properties. In addition, the Account may desire to sell a property at the same time another TIAA affiliate is selling a property in an overlapping market. Conflicts could also arise because some properties owned by TIAA and its affiliates may compete with the Account’s properties for tenants. Among other things, if one of the TIAA entities attracts a tenant that the Account is competing for, the Account could suffer a loss of revenue due to delays in locating another suitable tenant. TIAA has adopted allocation policies and procedures applicable to the purchasing conflicts scenario, but the resolution of such conflicts may be economically disadvantageous to the Account. As a result of TIAA’s and its affiliates’ obligations to other current and potential TIAA-sponsored investment vehicles with similar objectives to those of the Account, there is no assurance that the Account will be able to take advantage of every attractive investment opportunity that otherwise is in accordance with the Account’s investment objectives.

Liquidity Guarantee: In addition, as discussed elsewhere in this prospectus, the TIAA General Account provides a liquidity guarantee to the Account. As of the date of this prospectus, TIAA owns liquidity units purchased pursuant to this guarantee. While an independent fiduciary is responsible for establishing a “trigger point” (a percentage of TIAA’s ownership of liquidity units beyond which TIAA’s ownership may be reduced at the fiduciary’s direction), there is no express cap on the amount TIAA may be obligated to fund under this guarantee. Further, the Account’s independent fiduciary will oversee any redemption of TIAA liquidity units and, as of the date of this prospectus, has indicated its intent to initiate systematic redemptions under certain circumstances. TIAA’s ownership of liquidity units (including the potential for changes in its levels of ownership in the future) could result in the perception that TIAA is taking into account its own economic interests while serving as investment manager for the Account. In particular, the value of TIAA’s liquidity units fluctuates in the same manner as the value of accumulation units held by all participants. Any perception of a conflict of interest could cause participants to transfer accumulations out of the Account to another investment option, which could have an adverse impact on the Account’s ability to act most optimally upon its investment strategy. For a discussion of the relevant allocation policies and procedures TIAA has established as well as a

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summary of other conflicts of interest which may arise as a result of TIAA’s management of the Account, see “Establishing and Managing the Account — the Role of TIAA — Conflicts of Interest” on page 49.

NO OPPORTUNITY FOR PRIOR REVIEW OF TRANSACTIONS

Investors do not have the opportunity to evaluate the economic or financial merit of the purchase, sale or financing of a property or other investment before the Account completes the transaction, so investors will need to rely solely on TIAA’s judgment and ability to select investments consistent with the Account’s investment objective and policies. Further, the Account may change its investment objective and pursue specific investments in accordance with any such amended investment objective without the consent of the Account’s investors.

RISKS OF REGISTRATION UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

The Account has not registered, and management intends to continue to operate the Account so that it will not have to register, as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Generally, a company is an “investment company” and required to register under the Investment Company Act if, among other things, it holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, or it is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of such company’s total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis.

If the Account were obligated to register as an investment company, the Account would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act that impose, among other things, limitations on capital structure, restrictions on certain investments, compliance with reporting, record keeping, voting and proxy disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that could significantly increase its operating expenses and reduce its operating flexibility. To maintain compliance with the exemptions from the Investment Company Act, the Account may be unable to sell assets it would otherwise want to sell and may be unable to purchase securities it would otherwise want to purchase, which might materially adversely impact the Account’s performance.

THE ACCOUNT’S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND STRATEGY

Investment Objective: The Account seeks favorable long-term returns primarily through rental income and appreciation of real estate and real estate-related investments owned by the Account. The Account will also invest in non-real estate-related publicly traded securities and short-term higher quality

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liquid investments that are easily converted to cash to enable the Account to meet participant redemption requests, purchase or improve properties or cover other expense needs.

Investment Strategy:

Real Estate-Related Investments. The Account intends to have between 75% and 85% of its net assets invested directly in real estate or real estate-related investments with the goal of producing favorable long-term returns primarily through rental income and appreciation. These investments may consist of:

The Account’s principal strategy is to purchase direct ownership interests in income-producing real estate, primarily office, industrial, retail and multi-family residential properties. The Account is targeted to hold between 65% and 80% of the Account’s net assets in such direct ownership interests at any time. Historically, over 70% of the Account’s net assets have been comprised of such direct ownership interests in real estate.

In addition, while the Account is authorized to hold up to 25% of its net assets in liquid real estate-related securities, such as REITs and CMBS, management intends that the Account will not hold more than 10% of its net assets in such securities on a long-term basis. Historically, less than 10% of the Account’s net assets have been comprised of interests in these securities. In particular, under the Account’s current investment guidelines, the Account is authorized to hold up to 10% of its net assets in CMBS. As of December 31, 2011, REIT securities comprised approximately 6.9% of the Account’s net assets, and the Account held no CMBS as of such date.

Non-Real Estate-Related Investments. The Account will invest the remaining portion of its assets (targeted to be between 15% and 25% of its net assets) in publicly traded, liquid investments; namely:

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•				stock of companies that do not primarily own or manage real estate.

However, from time to time (and most recently between late 2008 and mid 2010), the Account’s non-real estate-related liquid investments may comprise less than 15% (and possibly less than 10%) of its assets (on a net basis and/or a gross basis), especially during and immediately following periods of significant net participant outflows, in particular due to significant participant transfer activity. In addition, the Account, from time to time and on a temporary basis, may hold in excess of 25% of its net assets in non-real estate-related liquid investments, particularly during times of significant inflows into the Account and/or a lack of attractive real estate-related investments available in the market.

Liquid Securities. Primarily due to management’s need to manage fluctuations in cash flows, in particular during and immediately following periods of significant participant net transfer activity into or out of the Account, the Account may, on a temporary basis (i) exceed the upper end of its targeted holdings (currently 35% of the Account’s net assets) in liquid securities of all types, including both publicly traded non-real estate-related liquid investments and liquid real estate-related securities, such as REITs and CMBS, or (ii) be below the low end of its targeted holdings in such liquid securities (currently 15% of the Account’s net assets).

The portion of the Account’s net assets invested in liquid investments of all types may exceed the upper end of its target, for example, if (i) the Account receives a large inflow of money in a short period of time, in particular due to significant participant transfer activity into the Account, (ii) the Account receives significant proceeds from sales of direct real estate assets, (iii) there is a lack of attractive direct real estate investments available on the market, and/or (iv) the Account anticipates more near-term cash needs, including to apply to acquire direct real estate investments, pay expenses or repay indebtedness.

At December 31, 2011, the Account’s net assets totaled approximately $13.5 billion. As of that date, the Account’s investments in real estate properties, real estate joint ventures, limited partnerships and real estate-related marketable securities, net of the fair value of mortgage loans payable on real estate, represented 78.8% of the Account’s net assets.

As discussed in more detail on page 45 under “Establishing and Managing the Account — The Role of TIAA — Liquidity Guarantee” and pursuant to its existing liquidity guarantee obligation, TIAA has agreed to purchase accumulation units issued by the Account in the event the Account has insufficient cash and liquid investments to ensure the ability, on its own, to fund participant transfer, redemption or withdrawal requests. This liquidity guarantee was first exercised in December 2008 and as of the date of this prospectus, was last exercised in June 2009.

Borrowing. The Account may borrow money and assume or obtain a mortgage on a property. Under the Account’s current investment guidelines,

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the Account intends to maintain a loan to value ratio at or below 30%. See “About the Account’s Investments — In General” below for more information.

At December 31, 2011, the Account held a total of 101 real estate property investments (including its interests in 11 real estate-related joint ventures), representing 73.9% of the Account’s total investments, measured on a gross asset value basis (“Total Investments”). As of that date, the Account also held investments in REIT equity securities (representing 6.0% of Total Investments), real estate limited partnerships (representing 2.0% of Total Investments), government agency notes (representing 10.0% of Total Investments) and U.S. Treasury Bills (representing 8.1% of Total Investments). See the Account’s audited financial statements for more information as to the Account’s investments as of December 31, 2011.

ABOUT THE ACCOUNT’S INVESTMENTS — IN GENERAL

DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN REAL ESTATE

Direct Purchase: The Account will generally buy direct ownership interests in existing or newly constructed income-producing properties, primarily office, industrial, retail, and multi-family residential properties. The Account will invest mainly in established properties with existing rent and expense schedules or in newly constructed properties with predictable cash flows or in which a seller agrees to provide certain minimum income levels. On occasion, the Account might invest in real estate development projects or engage in redevelopment projects. The Account does not directly invest in single-family residential real estate, nor does it currently invest in residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”), although it may invest in such securities in the future.

Purchase-Leaseback Transactions: Although it has not yet done so, the Account can enter into purchase-leaseback transactions (leasebacks) in which it would buy land and income-producing improvements on the land (such as buildings), and simultaneously lease the land and improvements to a third party (the lessee). Leasebacks are generally for very long terms. Usually, the lessee is responsible for operating the property and paying all operating costs, including taxes and mortgage debt. The Account can also give the lessee an option to buy the land and improvements.

In some leasebacks, the Account may purchase only the land under an income-producing building and lease the land to the building owner. In those cases, the Account could seek to share (or “participate”) in any increase in property value from building improvements or in the lessee’s revenues from the building above a base amount. The Account can invest in leasebacks that are subordinated to other interests in the land, buildings, and improvements (e.g., first mortgages); in that case, the leaseback interest would be subject to greater risks.

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INVESTMENTS IN MORTGAGES

General: The Account can originate or acquire interests in mortgage loans, generally on the same types of properties it might otherwise buy — i.e., the Account will be a creditor. These mortgage loans may pay fixed or variable interest rates or have “participating” features (as described below). Normally the Account’s mortgage loans will be secured by properties that have income-producing potential. They usually will not be insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or anyone else. They usually will be non-recourse, which means they won’t be the borrower’s personal obligations. Most will be first mortgage loans on existing income-producing property, with first-priority liens on the property. These loans may be amortized (i.e., principal is paid over the course of the loan), or may provide for interest-only payments, with a balloon payment at maturity. In addition, the Account may originate a mortgage loan on a property it has recently sold (this is sometimes called “seller financing”).

Participating Mortgage Loans: The Account may make mortgage loans which permit the Account to share (have a “participation”) in the income from or appreciation of the underlying property. These participations let the Account receive additional interest, usually calculated as a percentage of the income the borrower receives from operating, selling or refinancing the property. The Account may also have an option to buy an interest in the property securing the participating loan.

Managing Mortgage Loan Investments: TIAA can manage the Account’s mortgage loans in a variety of ways, including:

OTHER REAL ESTATE-RELATED INVESTMENTS

Joint Investment Vehicles Involved in Real Estate Activities: The Account can hold interests in joint ventures, limited partnerships, funds, and other commingled investment vehicles involved in real estate-related activities, including owning, financing, managing, or developing real estate. Many times, the Account will have limited voting and management rights in a commingled vehicle, including over the selection and disposition of the underlying real estate-related assets owned by the vehicle, and the Account’s ability to sell freely its interests in commingled vehicles may be restricted by the terms of the governing agreements. From time to time, the Account may also serve as the manager or administrator for such a vehicle, for which it may earn fees. The Account will not hold real property jointly with TIAA or its affiliates.

Real Estate Investment Trusts: The Account may invest in REITs, which are entities (usually publicly owned and traded) that lease, manage, acquire,

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hold mortgages on, and develop real estate. Normally the Account will attempt to replicate the holdings of widely recognized REIT indexes, but at times may gain exposure to REITs by purchasing the common or preferred stock of an individual REIT, by purchasing index funds or exchange traded funds, or by purchasing debt securities issued by a REIT. REITs seek to maximize share value and increase cash flows by acquiring and developing new real estate projects, upgrading existing properties or renegotiating existing arrangements to increase rental rates and occupancy levels. REITs must distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders in order to benefit from a special tax structure, which means they may pay high dividends. The value of a particular REIT can be affected by such factors as general economic and market conditions (in particular as to publicly traded REITs), the performance of the real estate sector in which the REIT primarily invests, cash flow, the skill of its management team, and defaults by its lessees or borrowers.

Mortgage-Backed Securities: The Account can invest in mortgage-backed securities and other mortgage-related or asset-backed instruments, including CMBS, RMBS, mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government, non-agency mortgage instruments, and collateralized mortgage obligations that are fully collateralized by a portfolio of mortgages or mortgage-related securities. Mortgage-backed securities are instruments that directly or indirectly represent a participation in, or are secured by and payable from, one or more mortgage loans secured by real estate. In most cases, mortgage-backed securities distribute principal and interest payments on the mortgages to investors. Interest rates on these instruments can be fixed or variable. Some classes of mortgage-backed securities may be entitled to receive mortgage prepayments before other classes do. Therefore, the prepayment risk for a particular instrument may be different than for other mortgage-related securities. Many classes of mortgage-backed securities have experienced volatility in pricing and liquidity since 2008.

Stock of Companies Involved in Real Estate Activities: From time to time, the Account can invest in common or preferred stock of companies whose business involves real estate. These stocks may be listed on U.S. or foreign stock exchanges or traded over-the-counter in the U.S. or abroad.

NON-REAL ESTATE-RELATED INVESTMENTS

The Account can also invest in:

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				only if they’re investment-grade and rated in the top four categories by a nationally recognized rating organization (or, if not rated, deemed by TIAA to be of equal quality); and
•				Common or preferred stock, or other ownership interests, of U.S. or foreign companies that aren’t involved in real estate, to a limited extent.

FOREIGN REAL ESTATE AND OTHER FOREIGN INVESTMENTS

The Account from time to time will also make foreign real estate investments. The Account from time to time will invest in foreign real estate or real estate-related investments. It might also invest in securities or other instruments of foreign government or private issuers. Under the Account’s investment guidelines, investments in direct foreign real estate, together with foreign real estate-related securities and foreign non-real estate-related liquid investments, may not comprise more than 25% of the Account’s net assets. However, through the date of this prospectus, such foreign real estate-related investments have never represented more than 7.5% of the Account’s net assets and management does not intend such foreign investments to exceed 10% of the Account’s net assets. As of the date of this prospectus, the Account holds interests in two foreign property investments (one in the United Kingdom and one in France), which, after netting out the fair value of debt on such properties, as of December 31, 2011, represented approximately 2.0% of the Account’s net assets (after netting out the fair value of debt on our foreign properties). See Appendix B for more information, including valuation information, concerning these investments.

Depending on investment opportunities, the Account’s foreign investments could at times be concentrated in one or two foreign countries. We will consider the special risks involved in foreign investing before investing in foreign real estate and won’t invest unless our standards are met.

GENERAL INVESTMENT AND OPERATING POLICIES

STANDARDS FOR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS

Buying Real Estate or Making Mortgage Loans: Before the Account purchases real estate or makes a mortgage loan, TIAA will consider such factors as:

TIAA will also analyze the fair market value of the underlying real estate, taking into account the property’s operating cash flow (based on the historical and projected levels of rental and occupancy rates and expenses), as well as the general economic conditions in the area where the property is located.

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Diversification: We haven’t placed percentage limitations on the type and location of properties that the Account can buy. However, the Account seeks to diversify its investments by type of property, geographic location and tenant mix. How much the Account diversifies will depend upon whether suitable investments are available, the Account’s ability to divest of properties that are in over-concentrated locations or sectors, and how much the Account has available to invest.

Special Criteria for Making Mortgage Loans: Ordinarily, the Account will only make a mortgage loan if the loan, when added to any existing debt, will not exceed 85% of the appraised value of the mortgaged property when the loan is made, unless the Account is compensated for taking additional risk.

Selling Real Estate Investments: The Account doesn’t intend to buy and sell its real estate investments simply to make short-term profits, although proceeds from sales of real estate investments do play a role in the Account’s cash management generally. Rather, the Account’s general strategy in selling real estate investments is to dispose of those assets which management believes:

Management from time to time will evaluate the need to manage liquidity in the Account as part of its analysis as to whether to undertake a particular asset sale. The Account will reinvest any sale proceeds that management doesn’t believe it will need to pay operating expenses, fund other obligations (such as debt obligations and funding commitments under limited partnership agreements) or to meet participant redemption requests (e.g., cash withdrawals or transfers).

OTHER REAL ESTATE-RELATED POLICIES

Appraisals and Valuations of Real Estate Assets: The Account will rely on TIAA’s own analysis, normally along with an independent external appraisal, in connection with the purchase of a property by the Account. The Account will normally receive an independent external appraisal performed by a third party appraisal firm at or before the time it buys a real estate asset, and the Account also generally obtains an independent appraisal when it makes mortgage loans.

Subsequently, each of the Account’s real properties are appraised, and mortgage loans are valued, at least once every calendar quarter. Each of the Account’s real estate properties are appraised each quarter by an independent

40Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

third party appraiser who is a member of a professional appraisal organization. In addition, TIAA’s internal appraisal staff performs a review of each independent appraisal of each real estate property as the final step in the Account’s process of determining the value, in conjunction with the Account’s independent fiduciary, and TIAA’s internal appraisal staff or the independent fiduciary may request an additional appraisal or valuation outside of this quarterly cycle. Any differences in the conclusions of TIAA’s internal appraisal staff and the independent appraiser will be reviewed by the independent fiduciary, which will make a final determination on the matter (which may include ordering a subsequent independent appraisal).

See “Valuing the Account’s Assets” on page 58 for more information on how each class of the Account’s investments (including assets other than real estate properties) are valued.

Borrowing: The Account may borrow money and assume or obtain a mortgage on a property — i.e., make leveraged real estate investments. Under the Account’s current investment guidelines, management intends to maintain the Account’s loan to value ratio at or below 30% (measured at the time of incurrence and after giving effect thereto). Forms of borrowing may include

The Account’s loan to value ratio at any time is based on the ratio of the outstanding principal amount of the Account’s debt to the Account’s total gross asset value. The Account’s total gross asset value, for these purposes, is equal to the total fair value of the Account’s assets (including the fair value of the Account’s interest in joint ventures), with no reduction associated with any indebtedness on such assets.

In times of high net inflow activity, in particular during times of high net participant transfer inflows, management may determine to apply a portion of such cash flows to make prepayments of indebtedness prior to scheduled maturity, which would have the effect of reducing the Account’s loan to value ratio. Such prepayments may require the Account to pay fees or ‘yield maintenance’ amounts to lenders.

In calculating outstanding indebtedness, we will include only the Account’s actual percentage interest in any borrowings on a joint venture investment and not that of any joint venture partner. Also, at the time the Account (or a joint venture in which the Account is a partner) enters into a revolving line of credit, management deems the maximum amount which may be drawn under that line of credit as fully incurred, regardless of whether the maximum amount available has been drawn from time to time.

As of December 31, 2011, the aggregate principal amount of the Account’s outstanding debt (including the Account’s share of debt on its joint venture

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investments) was approximately $3.6 billion and the Account’s loan to value ratio was approximately 20.8%.

The Account may only borrow up to 70% of the then current value of a property, although construction loans may be for 100% of costs incurred in developing the property. Except for construction loans, any mortgage loans on a property will be non-recourse to the Account, meaning that if there is a default on a loan in respect of a specific property, the lender will have recourse to (i.e., be able to foreclose on) only the property encumbered (or the joint venture owning the property), or to other specific Account properties that may have been pledged as security for the defaulted loan, but not to any other assets of the Account. When possible, the Account will seek to have loans mature at different times to limit the risks of borrowing.

The Account will not obtain mortgage financing on properties it owns from TIAA or any of its affiliates. Under certain circumstances, TIAA or an affiliate may provide a loan to a third party purchaser of a property sold by the Account, but no such financing will be made with respect to a property the Account still owns. However, the Account may place an intra-company mortgage on an Account property held by a subsidiary for tax planning or other purposes. This type of mortgage will not be subject to the general limitations on borrowing described above.

When the Account assumes or obtains a mortgage on a property, it will bear the expense of mortgage payments. It will also be exposed to certain additional risks, which are described in “Risk Factors — Risks of Borrowing” on page 22.

In addition, while it has not done so through the date of this prospectus, the Account may obtain a line of credit to meet short-term cash needs, which line of credit may be unsecured and/or contain terms that may require the Account to secure a loan with one or more of its properties. Management expects the proceeds from any such short-term borrowing would be used to meet the cash flow needs of the Account’s properties and real estate-related investments, but depending on the circumstances, proceeds could be used for Account-level funding needs (including the need to honor unexpected participant withdrawal activity).

Discretion to Evict or Foreclose: TIAA may, in its discretion, evict defaulting tenants or foreclose on defaulting borrowers to maintain the value of an investment, when it decides that it is in the Account’s best interests.

Property Management and Leasing Services: The Account usually will hire a national or regional independent third party property management company to perform the day-to-day management services for each of the Account’s properties, including supervising any on-site personnel, negotiating maintenance and service contracts, providing advice on major repairs and capital improvements and assisting the Account in ensuring compliance with environmental regulations. The property manager will also recommend changes in rent schedules and create marketing and advertising programs to

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attain and maintain high levels of occupancy by responsible tenants. The Account may also hire independent third party leasing companies to perform or coordinate leasing and marketing services to fill any vacancies. The fees paid to the property management company, along with any leasing commissions and expenses, will reduce the Account’s cash flow from a property.

Insurance: We intend to arrange for, or require proof of, comprehensive insurance, including liability, fire, and extended coverage, for the Account’s real properties and properties securing mortgage loans or subject to purchase-leaseback transactions. The Account currently participates in property, casualty and other related insurance programs as part of TIAA’s property insurance programs, and the Account only bears the cost of insuring only the properties it owns. The terms and conditions of the insurance coverage the Account has on its properties, in conjunction with the type of loss actually suffered at a property, may subject the property, or the Account as a whole, to a cap on insurance proceeds that is less than the loss or losses suffered. In addition, the Account’s insurance policies on its properties currently include catastrophic coverage for wind, earthquakes and terrorist acts, but we can’t assure you that it will be adequate to cover all losses. We also can’t assure you that we will be able to obtain coverage for wind, earthquakes and terrorist acts at an acceptable cost, if at all, at the time a policy expires. While the Account will seek to have coverage placed with highly rated, financially healthy insurance carriers, the Account is reliant on the continued financial health of the third-party insurers it engages.

OTHER POLICIES

Investment Company Act of 1940: The Account has not registered, and we intend to operate the Account so that it will not have to register, as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act. This will require monitoring the Account’s portfolio so that it won’t have more than 40 percent of total assets, other than U.S. government securities and cash items, in investment securities. As a result, the Account may be unable to make some potentially profitable investments, it may be unable to sell assets it would otherwise want to sell or it may be forced to sell investments in investment securities before it would otherwise want to do so.

Changing Operating Policies or Winding Down: Under the terms of the contracts and in accordance with applicable insurance law, TIAA can decide to change, in its sole discretion, the operating policies of the Account or to wind it down. If the Account is wound down, you may need to transfer your accumulations or annuity income to TIAA’s traditional annuity or any CREF account available under your employer’s plan. All investors in the Account will be notified in advance if we decide to change a significant policy or wind down the Account.

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ESTABLISHING AND MANAGING THE ACCOUNT —
THE ROLE OF TIAA

ESTABLISHING THE ACCOUNT

The Board established the Real Estate Account as a separate account of TIAA under New York law on February 22, 1995. The Account is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS,” formerly, the New York State Insurance Department) and the insurance departments of the other jurisdictions in which the annuity contracts are offered. Although TIAA owns the assets of the Real Estate Account, and the Account’s obligations under the contract are obligations of TIAA, the Account’s income, investment gains, and investment losses are credited to or charged against the assets of the Account without regard to TIAA’s other income, gains, or losses. Under New York insurance law, we can’t charge the Account with liabilities incurred by any other TIAA business activities or any other TIAA separate account.

MANAGING THE ACCOUNT

TIAA employees, under the direction and control of the Board and its Investment Committee, manage the investment of the Account’s assets, following investment management procedures TIAA has adopted for the Account. The Account does not have officers, directors or employees. TIAA’s investment management responsibilities include:

In addition, TIAA performs administration functions for the Account (which include receiving and allocating premiums, calculating and making annuity payments and providing recordkeeping and other services). Distribution services for the Account (which include, without limitation, distribution of the annuity contracts, advising existing annuity contract owners in connection with their accumulations and helping employers implement and manage retirement plans) are performed by Services. TIAA and Services provide investment management, administration and distribution services, as applicable, on an “at-cost” basis. For more information about the charge for investment management, administration and distribution services, see “Expense Deductions” on page 65.

You don’t have the right to vote for TIAA Trustees. See “General Matters — Voting Rights” on page 144. For information about the Trustees, certain executive officers of TIAA and the Account’s portfolio management team, see Appendix A of this prospectus.

TIAA’s ERISA Fiduciary Status. To the extent that assets of a plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended

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(“ERISA”), are allocated to the Account, TIAA will be acting as an “investment manager” and a fiduciary under ERISA with respect to those assets.

LIQUIDITY GUARANTEE

The TIAA General Account provides the Account with a liquidity guarantee enabling the Account to have funds available to meet participant redemption, transfer or cash withdrawal requests. This guarantee is required by the NYDFS. If the Account can’t fund participant requests from the Account’s own cash flow and liquid investments, the TIAA General Account will fund such requests by purchasing accumulation units (accumulation units that are purchased by TIAA are generally referred to as “liquidity units”) issued by the Account. TIAA guarantees that you can redeem your accumulation units at their accumulation unit value next determined after your transfer or cash withdrawal request is received in good order. Whether the liquidity guarantee is exercised is based on the cash level of the Account from time to time, as well as recent participant withdrawal activity and the Account’s expected working capital, debt service and cash needs, all subject to the oversight of the independent fiduciary. While the proceeds from liquidity unit purchases are not placed in a segregated account solely to fund participant requests, the guarantee is in place to meet participant needs. Liquidity units owned by TIAA are valued in the same manner as accumulation units owned by the Account’s participants. Importantly, however, this liquidity guarantee is not a guarantee of the investment performance of the Account or a guarantee of the value of your units. Transfers from the Account to a CREF or TIAA account, or another investment option, are limited to once every calendar quarter (except for specifically prescribed systematic transfers established in accordance with the terms of the participant’s contract and employer’s plan), and cash withdrawals may be further restricted by the terms of your plan.

TIAA’s obligation to provide Account participants liquidity through purchases of liquidity units is not subject to an express regulatory or contractual limitation, although as described below under “—Role of the Independent Fiduciary,” the independent fiduciary may (but is not obligated to) require the reduction of TIAA’s interest through sales of assets from the Account if TIAA’s interest exceeds a predetermined trigger point. Even if this trigger point were reached and regardless of whether the independent fiduciary has required the Account to dispose of any assets, TIAA’s obligation to provide liquidity under the guarantee will continue.

The Account pays TIAA for the risk associated with providing the liquidity guarantee through a daily deduction from the Account’s net assets. See “Expense Deductions” on page 65. Primarily as a result of significant net participant transfers throughout 2008 (in particular, in the second half of 2008), pursuant to this liquidity guarantee obligation, the TIAA General Account first purchased liquidity units on December 24, 2008. Through the date of this prospectus, the TIAA General Account has paid an aggregate of approximately $1.2 billion to purchase liquidity units in a number of separate

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus45

transactions, with the last such transaction occurring in June 2009. As of the date of this prospectus, no liquidity units have been redeemed by TIAA. Management cannot predict whether future liquidity unit purchases will be required under the liquidity guarantee.

Redemption of Liquidity Units. The independent fiduciary is vested with oversight and approval over any redemption of TIAA’s liquidity units, acting in the best interests of Real Estate Account participants. The independent fiduciary has indicated to management that, as of the date of this prospectus, it intends to initiate systematic redemptions of the liquidity units held by the TIAA General Account at such times as it deems appropriate. The independent fiduciary currently intends to cause a redemption of approximately one-quarter of the liquidity units held by TIAA on a daily basis throughout the third month of each calendar quarter, beginning June 1, 2012, so long as (i) the Account holds and is projected to hold at least 17% of its net assets in cash, cash equivalents and publicly traded, liquid non-real estate related securities, after taking into account certain projected sources and uses of cash flow into the Account, and (ii) recent historical net participant flows have been positive over the 20 business days prior to such redemption. If these conditions (along with other conditions and factors which the independent fiduciary may apply) are met consistently following June 1, 2012, TIAA would be fully redeemed by the end of March 2013. In addition, at any time the Account holds cash, cash equivalents and publicly traded, liquid non-real estate related securities in excess of 25% of its net assets, the independent fiduciary intends to cause a redemption of liquidity units in an amount equal to the Account’s average net participant flows during the preceding month. As of December 31, 2011, the Account held 20.8% of its net assets in such liquid non-real estate-related investments (along with its cash and cash equivalents).

In administering any redemptions (including those intended as described above), the independent fiduciary has indicated to management that it intends to evaluate, among other things (i) projected acquisitions and dispositions of real estate and real estate-related investments, (ii) participant inflow and outflow trends, (iii) the Account’s net income and (iv) obligations to make debt service payments and pay principal balances of mortgages on Account properties. The independent fiduciary is vested with oversight and approval over any redemption of liquidity units owned by TIAA, acting in the best interests of Real Estate Account participants.

As a general matter, the independent fiduciary may authorize or direct the redemption of all or a portion of liquidity units at any time and TIAA will request the approval of the independent fiduciary before any liquidity units are redeemed. There is no guarantee that the independent fiduciary will cause redemptions and even if redemptions do commence, management cannot predict the time period over which such redemptions would continue. Further, neither management nor the independent fiduciary can predict when TIAA’s liquidity units may be redeemed in full.

46Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

Upon termination and liquidation of the Account (wind-up), any liquidity units held by TIAA will be the last units redeemed, unless the independent fiduciary directs otherwise. Finally, TIAA may redeem its liquidity units more frequently than once per calendar quarter, subject at all times to the oversight and approval of the Account’s independent fiduciary (discussed in more detail in the subsection entitled “— Role of the Independent Fiduciary” immediately below).

ROLE OF THE INDEPENDENT FIDUCIARY

Because TIAA’s ability to purchase and sell liquidity units raises certain technical issues under ERISA, TIAA applied for and received a prohibited transaction exemption from the U.S. Department of Labor in 1996 (“PTE-96-76”). In connection with the exemption, TIAA has appointed an independent fiduciary for the Real Estate Account, with overall responsibility for reviewing Account transactions to determine whether they are in accordance with the Account’s investment guidelines. Real Estate Research Corporation, a real estate consulting firm whose principal offices are located in Chicago, Illinois, was initially appointed as independent fiduciary effective March 1, 2006 and currently serves as the Account’s independent fiduciary. The independent fiduciary’s responsibilities include:

In addition, Real Estate Research Corporation has certain responsibilities with respect to the Account that it had historically undertaken or is currently undertaking with respect to TIAA’s purchase and ownership of liquidity units, including among other things, reviewing the purchases and redemption of liquidity units by TIAA to ensure the Account uses the correct unit values. In connection therewith, as set forth in PTE 96-76, the independent fiduciary’s responsibilities include:

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•				establishing the percentage of total liquidity units that TIAA’s ownership should not exceed (the “trigger point”) and creating a method for changing the trigger point;
•				approving any adjustment of TIAA’s ownership interest in the Account and, in its discretion, requiring an adjustment if TIAA’s ownership of liquidity units reaches the trigger point; and
•				once the trigger point has been reached, participating in any program to reduce TIAA’s ownership in the Account by utilizing cash flow or liquid investments in the Account, or by utilizing the proceeds from asset sales. If the independent fiduciary were to determine that TIAA’s ownership should be reduced following the trigger point, its role in participating in any asset sales program would include:

(i)		participating in the selection of properties for sale,
(ii)		providing sales guidelines, and
(iii)		approving those sales if, in the independent fiduciary’s opinion, such sales are desirable to reduce TIAA’s ownership of liquidity units.

As of the date of this prospectus, the independent fiduciary, which has the right to adjust the trigger point, has established the trigger point at 45% of the outstanding accumulation units and it will continue to monitor TIAA’s ownership interest in the Account and provide further recommendations as necessary. As of December 31, 2011, TIAA owned approximately 8.8% of the outstanding accumulation units of the Account. In establishing the appropriate trigger point, including whether or not to require certain actions once the trigger point has been reached, the independent fiduciary will assess, among other things and to the extent consistent with PTE 96-76 and the independent fiduciary’s duties under ERISA, the risk that a conflict of interest could arise due to the level of TIAA’s ownership interest in the Account.

A special subcommittee consisting of five (5) independent outside members of the Investment Committee of the Board renewed the appointment of Real Estate Research Corporation as the independent fiduciary for an additional three-year term, which appointment was effective as of March 1, 2012, and continues through February 28, 2015. This subcommittee may renew the independent fiduciary appointment, remove the independent fiduciary, or appoint its successor. The independent fiduciary can be removed for cause by the vote of three (3) out of the five (5) subcommittee members and will not be reappointed if two (2) of the subcommittee members disapprove of the reappointment. The independent fiduciary can resign after providing at least 180 days’ written notice.

TIAA pays the independent fiduciary directly. The investment management charge paid to TIAA includes TIAA’s costs for retaining the independent fiduciary. Under PTE 96-76, the independent fiduciary must receive less than 5% of its annual gross revenues (including payment for its services to the Account) from TIAA and its affiliates.

48Prospectus ¡ TIAA Real Estate Account

When you decide as a participant or plan fiduciary to invest in the Account, after TIAA has provided you with full and fair disclosure, including the disclosure in this prospectus, you are also acknowledging that you approve and accept Real Estate Research Corporation or any successor to serve as the Account’s independent fiduciary.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

General. Employees of TIAA that provide advice with respect to the Real Estate Account may also provide investment advice with respect to investments managed by Teachers Advisors, Inc. (“Advisors”), an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of TIAA and a registered investment adviser. In addition, TIAA and its affiliates offer (and may in the future offer) other accounts and investment products that are not managed under an “at cost” expense structure. Therefore, TIAA and its employees may at times face various conflicts of interest. For example, the TIAA General Account and a privately offered core property investment fund managed by Advisors (the “core property investment fund”) may sometimes compete with the Real Estate Account in the purchase of investments. (Each of the TIAA General Account, the Real Estate Account and the core property investment fund together with any other real estate accounts or funds that are established or may be established by TIAA or its affiliates in the future, are herein referred to as an “account.”)

Many of the personnel of TIAA involved in performing services to the Real Estate Account will have competing demands on their time. The personnel will devote such time to the affairs of the Account as TIAA’s management determines, in its sole discretion exercising good faith, is necessary to properly service the Account. TIAA believes that it has sufficient personnel to discharge its responsibility to the Real Estate Account, the General Account, the core property investment fund and other accounts to avoid conflicts of interest. TIAA or its affiliates may form other real estate investment vehicles in the future and we will take steps to assure that those vehicles are integrated into these conflict of interest policies. TIAA does not accept acquisition or placement fees for the services it provides to the Account.

Allocation Procedure. TIAA and its affiliates allocate new investments (including real property investments, but generally not real estate limited partnership investments) among the accounts in accordance with a written allocation procedure as adopted by TIAA and modified from time to time. Generally, the portfolio managers for each of the accounts will evaluate acquisition opportunities which conform to the investment strategy of the account. If more than one account expresses an interest in a particular investment in a particular sector, a strict rotation system will be used whereby the interested account highest on the list will be allowed to pursue the transaction, and then such account will drop to the bottom of the rotation for new investments in that sector. This rotation system is employed on a sector-by-sector basis for each of the office, retail, industrial, multifamily and other

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sectors; meaning that an account (including the Real Estate Account) could, at any one time, be at the top or the bottom of the rotation for new investment opportunities in all of the four sectors in which the Real Estate Account invests. If only one account is interested, that account will be allocated the opportunity with no change in its position in the rotation. In addition, there may be circumstances where multiple properties are presented to TIAA for sale as a single acquisition opportunity, and the proposed price is inclusive of all the properties. If more than one account has interest in all or a portion of such bundled acquisition opportunity, TIAA’s acquisition staff will investigate with the seller whether the properties can be unbundled and offered to the accounts on an individual basis and the sector-based rotation system described above will apply to the allocation of such unbundled properties.

An asset allocation oversight committee made up of senior officers of TIAA (representing its asset management, risk management, product management, internal audit, compliance, legal and accounting groups) will review and discuss, on a quarterly basis, the allocations made during the previous quarter based on this allocation procedure to, among other things, ensure the procedure is being followed and to review and approve any changes to the procedure. In addition, the procedure will be reviewed by this internal committee on at least an annual basis.

In addition, non-discretionary mandates within an account, where the account is a major co-investor, will be included as part of that account’s rotation and will not have a separate place in the foregoing rotation among accounts. If an account has more than one non-discretionary mandate with overlapping investment strategies, the portfolio manager for that account will maintain a strict rotation system to allocate among such mandates any opportunities that fit the mandates’ investment strategies and which the portfolio manager has elected to offer to the mandates. A non-discretionary mandate refers to a fund or account in which TIAA or its affiliates has no discretion to make investment decisions on behalf of the non-TIAA co-investor; in other words, each of TIAA and the co-investor would have to approve the acquisition of a property. Records of allocations made pursuant to intra-account rotations will be included on the quarterly real estate allocation report and provided to the asset allocation oversight committee as described above.

Leasing Conflicts. Conflicts could also arise because some properties in the TIAA General Account, the core property investment fund and other accounts may compete for tenants with the Real Estate Account’s properties. Management believes the potential for leasing conflicts are minimized by the unique characteristics of each property, including location, submarket, physical characteristics, amenities and lease rollover schedules. Management believes the differing business strategies of the accounts also reduce potential conflicts. If a conflict arises, as appropriate, the competing accounts will arrange that different property managers and leasing brokers are engaged, each charged with using their best efforts to support the property management and leasing activity for each particular property and an ethical screen will be placed

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between the internal asset managers for the respective properties. Any conflicts that arise will be reported to the next occurring global real estate portfolio oversight committee (which is comprised of portfolio managers for the accounts).

Sales Conflicts. Conflicts could also potentially arise when two TIAA accounts attempt to sell properties located in the same market or submarket, especially if there are a limited number of potential purchasers and/or if such purchaser has an ongoing business relationship with TIAA or one of its specific accounts.

Liquidity Guarantee. TIAA’s ownership of liquidity units (including potential changes in future ownership levels) could result in the perception that TIAA is taking into account its own economic interests while serving as investment manager for the Account. In particular, there is the concern that TIAA could make investment decisions (and other management decisions) with respect to the Account which serve the interest of the TIAA General Account, at the expense of those participants that have chosen the Account as an investment option. This could manifest itself, among other ways, by the Account disposing its properties solely to raise liquidity in avoidance of having a need for the liquidity guarantee, or by foregoing otherwise attractive investment opportunities so as not to impair liquid asset levels.

Management believes that any conflict (or potential conflict) is mitigated by, among other things, the detailed valuation procedure for the Account’s properties, which includes independent appraisals and the oversight of the independent fiduciary. Also, the independent fiduciary oversees the liquidity guarantee execution to ensure the proper unit values are applied, and the independent fiduciary will oversee any liquidity unit redemptions. Further, the independent fiduciary is vested with the right to establish a trigger point, which is a level of ownership at which the fiduciary is empowered, but not required, to reduce TIAA’s ownership interest (with the goal to mitigate any potential conflict of interest) through the means described in the immediately preceding section. For example, the independent fiduciary could perceive a conflict of interest if it believed that management directed the sale of properties solely to increase liquidity (not in accordance with the Account’s investment guidelines or at “fire sale” prices) with the sole goal of avoiding the need for further TIAA liquidity unit purchases under the liquidity guarantee. In such case, the independent fiduciary would be authorized to adjust the trigger point, at which time the fiduciary would have control over the sales of properties (including the timing and pricing) to ensure such sales are in the best interests of the Account.

While it retains the oversight over the Account’s investment guidelines, valuation and appraisal matters and the liquidity guarantee as described above in “— Role of the Independent Fiduciary,” the independent fiduciary’s authority to override investment management decisions made by TIAA’s managers acting on behalf of the Account is limited to those circumstances after which the trigger point has been reached or during a wind-down of the Account.

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INDEMNIFICATION

The Account has agreed to indemnify TIAA and its affiliates, including its officers and trustees, against certain liabilities to the extent permitted by law, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933. The Account may make such indemnification out of its assets.

SUMMARY OF THE ACCOUNT’S PROPERTIES

THE PROPERTIES — IN GENERAL

As of December 31, 2011, the Account owned a total of 101 real estate property investments (90 of which were wholly owned and 11 of which were held in real estate-related joint ventures), representing 73.9% of the Account’s total investment portfolio (on a gross asset value basis). The real estate portfolio included:

Of the 101 real estate property investments, 31 were subject to mortgages (including seven joint venture property investments).

In the tables and the footnotes contained in Appendix B to this prospectus, you will find more detailed information about each of the Account’s portfolio property investments as of December 31, 2011. The Account’s property investments include both properties that are wholly owned by the Account and properties owned by the Account’s joint venture investments. Certain property investments detailed in Appendix B are comprised of a portfolio of properties.

COMMERCIAL (NON-RESIDENTIAL) PROPERTIES

At December 31, 2011, the Account held 78 commercial (non-residential) property investments in its portfolio, including a portfolio of storage facilities located throughout the United States. Eleven of these property investments were held through joint ventures, and 19 were subject to mortgages (including seven joint venture property investments). Although the terms vary under each lease, certain expenses, such as real estate taxes and other operating expenses, are paid or reimbursed in whole or in part by the tenants.

Management believes that the Account’s portfolio is diversified by both property type and geographic location. As of December 31, 2011, the portfolio consisted of:

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•				Office. 34 property investments containing approximately 17 million square feet located in 12 states, the District of Columbia and the United Kingdom. As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s office properties had an aggregate fair value of approximately $5.8 billion.
•				Industrial. 26 property investments containing approximately 30.9 million square feet located in 11 states, including a 60% interest in a portfolio of industrial properties located throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s industrial properties had an aggregate fair value of approximately $1.6 billion.
•				Retail. 16 property investments containing approximately 19.2 million square feet located in five states, the District of Columbia and Paris, France. As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s retail properties had an aggregate fair value of approximately $1.7 billion. One of the retail property investments is an 85% interest in a portfolio containing 40 individual retail shopping centers located throughout the Eastern and Southeastern states.
•				Other — Storage. The Account has a 75% interest in a portfolio of storage facilities located throughout the United States containing approximately 1.7 million square feet. As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s interest in this portfolio had a fair value of approximately $60.6 million.
•				Other — Land. During 2011, the Account invested in a fee interest real estate investment encumbered by a ground lease. As of December 31, 2011, this real estate investment had a fair value of $320.0 million.

As of December 31, 2011, the fair value weighted average lease rate of the Account’s entire commercial real estate portfolio was 91.7%. The overall lease rate of the Account’s commercial real estate portfolio was 91.6%. The Account’s:

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Major Tenants: The following tables list the Account’s ten most significant tenants based on the total space they occupied as of December 31, 2011 in each of the Account’s commercial property types.

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The following tables list the rentable area subject to expiring leases during the next five years, and an aggregate figure for expirations in 2017 and thereafter, in the Account’s commercial (non-residential) properties. While many of these leases contain renewal options with varying terms, these charts assume that none of the tenants exercise their renewal options, including those with terms that expired on December 31, 2011 or are month to month leases.

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES

The Account’s residential property portfolio currently consists of 23 property investments composed of first class or luxury multi-family, garden, mid-rise, and high-rise apartment buildings. The portfolio contains approximately 9,155 units located in ten states and has a 94.0% occupancy rate as of December 31, 2011. Twelve of the residential properties in the portfolio are subject to mortgages. The complexes generally contain studios and one- to three-bedroom apartment units with a range of amenities, such as patios or balconies, washers and dryers, and central air conditioning. Many of these apartment communities have on-site fitness facilities, including some with

TIAA Real Estate Account ¡ Prospectus55

swimming pools. Rents on each of the properties tend to be comparable with competitive communities and are not subject to rent regulation. The Account is responsible for the expenses of operating its residential properties.

As of December 31, 2011, the Account’s residential properties had an aggregate fair value of approximately $2.0 billion. Set forth in Appendix B to this prospectus is a table containing detailed information regarding the residential properties in the Account’s portfolio as of December 31, 2011.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

The following describes property and financing transactions by the Account since August 24, 2011, the date of the last supplement to the Account prospectus describing property transactions. Except as noted, the expenses for operating the properties purchased are either borne or reimbursed, in whole or in part, by the property tenants, although the terms vary under each lease. The Account is responsible for operating expenses not reimbursed under the terms of a lease. All rental rates are quoted on an annual basis unless otherwise noted.

PURCHASES

Industrial Properties

Weston Business Center — Weston, FL

On August 26, 2011, the Account purchased an industrial property located in Weston, Florida, for $84.8 million. The Weston Business Center is a 679,918 square foot industrial park built in 1998 and 1999 comprised of four Class A warehouse distribution buildings on 10.4 acres in Weston, Florida. The four buildings represent 63% of the entire park, which consists of six buildings and 1,076,000 square feet. The buildings are 100% leased to six tenants. The three largest tenants are Anda, Inc. (152,178 square feet), American Express (224,650 square feet) and Office Depot (230,940 square feet). Rental rates average $7.31 per square foot.

Retail Properties

The Forum at Carlsbad — Carlsbad, CA

On September 9, 2011, the Account purchased a retail property located in Carlsbad, California, for $183.3 million. The property is a premier grocery anchored lifestyle center in San Diego’s northwest county. Constructed in 2003 and located along El Camino Real in Carlsbad, CA, the property consists of 264,619 square feet of institutional quality retail space, divided among eight separate buildings, that were 99.1% leased at time of purchase to a variety of local and national retailers including: H&M (19,479 square feet), Urban Outfitters (12,659 square feet), Jimbo’s (18,000 square feet), and Bed, Bath & Beyond (28,000 square feet).

The Shops at Wisconsin Place — Chevy Chase, MD

On February 3, 2012, the Account purchased a retail property and a 33.3% interest in a joint venture located in Chevy Chase, Maryland for $114.3 million. The property is an 118,000 square foot retail center. It is currently 98% leased

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and is anchored by Whole Foods (owned) and Bloomingdale’s (un-owned). The remaining tenancy is a diversified mix of retailers and restaurants (i.e. Anthropologie, Capital Grille, PF Changs, Eileen Fisher, White House Black Market). The Shops at Wisconsin Place is the retail component of a mixed-use project which includes a 299,200 square foot office building owned by Boston Properties and a 432 unit multifamily high-rise owned by Archstone Smith. The entire project resides on a ground lease. The ground lease and associated fee is held within a joint venture, owned equally (33.33%) by the Account, Archstone Smith and Boston Properties.

SALES

Multifamily Properties

The Lodge at Willow Creek — Lone Tree, CO

On October 21, 2011, the Account sold an apartment building located in Lone Tree, Colorado for a net sale price of $46.2 million and realized a gain from sale of $15.9 million, the majority of which had been previously recognized as an unrealized gain in the Account’s consolidated statements of operations. The Account’s cost basis (excluding selling costs) in the property as of the date of sale was $30.3 million according to the records of the Account.

Office Properties

One Virginia Square — Arlington, VA

On November 3, 2011, the Account sold an office building located in Arlington, Virginia for a net sale price of $61.4 million and realized a gain of $13.9 million from the sale, the majority of which had been previously recognized as an unrealized gain in the Account’s consolidated statements of operations. The Account’s cost basis (excluding selling costs) in the property at the date of the sale was $47.5 million according to the records of the Account.

Pointe on Tampa Bay — Tampa, FL

On January 11, 2012, the Account sold an office building located in Tampa, Florida for a net sale price of $46.2 million and realized a loss from sale of $5.1 million, the majority of which had been previously recognized as an unrealized loss in the Account’s consolidated statements of operations. The Account’s cost basis (excluding selling costs) in the property as of the date of sale was $51.3 million according to the records of the Account.

Retail Properties

Champlin Marketplace — Champlin, MN

On September 21, 2011, the Account sold a retail building located in Champlin, Minnesota for a net sale price of $12.7 million and realized a loss from sale of $5.8 million, the majority of which had been previously recognized as an unrealized loss in the Account’s consolidated statements of operations. The Account’s cost basis (excluding selling costs) in the property as of the date of sale was $18.5 million according to the records of the Account.

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DDR Joint Venture — Morrow, GA

On December 15, 2011, a retail property located in Morrow, Georgia was sold by the Account’s joint venture investment with Developers Diversified Realty Corporation, (the “DDR Joint Venture”), a venture in which the Account holds an 85% interest. The Account’s portion of the net sale price was $19.1 million. The Account realized a loss from the sale of $60.4 million, the majority of which had been previously recognized as an unrealized loss in the Account’s consolidated statements of operations. The Account’s portion of its cost basis (excluding selling costs) in the property at the date of the sale was $79.5 million according to the records of the Account. Concurrent with the sale of the aforementioned retail property, this venture paid off debt associated with the property, the Account’s portion of this debt was $25.7 million.

DDR Joint Venture — Tampa, FL

On February 23, 2012, a retail property located in Tampa, Florida was sold by the Account’s DDR Joint Venture. The Account’s portion of the net sale price was $3.3 million. The Account realized a loss from the sale of $3.3 million, the majority of which had been previously recognized as an unrealized loss in the Account’s consolidated statements of operations. The Account’s portion of its cost basis (excluding selling costs) in the property at the date of the sale was $6.6 million (excluding debt) according to the records of the Account. Concurrent with the sale, the DDR Joint Venture repaid a mortgage loan associated with the sold retail asset. Of the mortgage loan repaid, $3.5 million related to the Account’s interest.

FINANCINGS

The Palatine — Arlington, VA

On December 16, 2011, the Account entered into a mortgage agreement on this multifamily property investment in the principal amount of $80.0 million with a fixed interest rate of 4.25% for a period of 10 years.

The Forum at Carlsbad — Carlsbad, CA

On February 29, 2012, the Account entered into a $90.0 million mortgage loan payable on this retail property. The debt matures March 1, 2022 and is interest only through March 1, 2017 at which time both principal and interest payments are due through maturity. The interest rate is fixed at 4.25% over the life of the loan.

VALUING THE ACCOUNT’S ASSETS

We value the Account’s assets as of the close of each valuation day by taking the sum of:

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•				the value of the Account’s other securities and other non-real estate assets;
•				the value of the individual real properties (based on the most recent valuation of that property) and other real estate-related investments owned by the Account;
•				an estimate of the net operating income accrued by the Account from its properties, other real estate-related investments and non-real estate-related investments (including short-term marketable securities) since the end of the prior valuation day; and
•				actual net operating income earned from the Account’s properties, other real estate-related investments and non-real estate-related investments (but only to the extent any such item of income differs from the estimated income accrued for on such investments),

and then reducing the sum by the Account’s liabilities, including the daily investment management, administration and distribution fees and certain other fees and expenses attributable to operating the Account. Daily estimates of net operating income are adjusted to reflect actual net operating income on a monthly basis, at which time such adjustments (if any) are reflected in the Account’s unit value. See “Expense Deductions” on page 65.

Fair value for the Account’s assets is based upon quoted market prices in active exchange markets, where available. If listed prices or quotes in such markets are not available, fair value is based upon vendor-provided, evaluated prices or internally developed models that primarily use market-based or independently sourced market data, including interest rate yield curves, market spreads, and currency rates. Valuation adjustments may be made to reflect credit quality, a counterparty’s creditworthiness, the Account’s creditworthiness, liquidity, and other observable and unobservable data that are applied consistently over time.

The methods described above are considered to produce a fair value calculation that represents a good faith estimate as to what an unaffiliated buyer in the market place would pay to purchase the asset or receive to transfer the liability. Since fair value calculations involve significant professional judgment in the application of both observable and unobservable attributes, actual realizable values or future fair values may differ from amounts reported. Furthermore, while the Account believes its valuation methods are appropriate and consistent with other market participants, the use of different methodologies or assumptions to determine the fair value of certain financial instruments, while reasonable, could result in different estimates of fair value at the reporting date.

VALUING REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS

Valuing Real Property: Investments in real estate properties are stated at fair value, as determined in accordance with policies and procedures reviewed by the Investment Committee of the Board and in accordance with the

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responsibilities of the Board as a whole. Accordingly, the Account does not record depreciation.

Fair value for real estate properties is defined as the price that would be received to sell the asset in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Determination of fair value involves significant levels of judgment because the actual market value of real estate can be determined only by negotiation between the parties in a sales transaction. Property and investment values are affected by, among other things, the availability of capital, occupancy rates, rental rates, and interest and inflation rates. As a result, determining real estate and investment values involves many assumptions. Amounts ultimately realized from each investment may vary significantly from the market value presented. Actual results could differ from those estimates. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Real Estate Investing — Valuation and Appraisal Risks” on page 19.

In accordance with the Account’s procedures designed to comply with Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures in U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), the Account values real estate properties purchased by the Account initially based on an independent appraisal at the time of the closing of the purchase, which may result in a potential unrealized gain or loss reflecting the difference between an investment’s fair value (i.e., exit price) and its cost basis (which is inclusive of transaction costs).

Subsequently, each property will be valued each quarter by an independent appraiser and the property value will be updated as appropriate. In general, the Account obtains independent appraisals of its real estate properties spread out throughout the quarter, which is intended to result in appraisal adjustments, and thus, adjustments to the valuations of its holdings (to the extent such adjustments are made), that happen regularly throughout each quarter and not on one specific day in each quarter.

Further, management reserves the right to order an appraisal and/or conduct another valuation outside of the normal quarterly process when facts or circumstances at a specific property change (for example, under certain circumstances a valuation adjustment could be made when bids are obtained for properties held for sale). The Account’s independent fiduciary, Real Estate Research Corporation, oversees the Account’s entire appraisal process and, among other things, must approve all independent appraisers used by the Account. TIAA’s internal appraisal staff oversees the entire appraisal process and reviews each independent quarterly appraisal, in conjunction with the Account’s independent fiduciary, prior to the value reflected in that appraisal being recorded in the Account. Any differences in the conclusions of TIAA’s internal appraisal staff and the independent appraiser will be reviewed by the independent fiduciary, which will make a final determination on the matter (which may include ordering a subsequent independent appraisal).

Real estate appraisals are estimates of property values based on a professional’s opinion. All appraisals are performed in accordance with Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices, the real estate

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appraisal industry standards created by The Appraisal Foundation. Appraisals of properties held outside of the U.S. are performed in accordance with industry standards commonly applied in the applicable jurisdiction. Further, these independent appraisers (as well as TIAA’s internal appraisal staff) are always expected to be MAI-designated members of the Appraisal Institute (or its European equivalent, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) and state certified appraisers from national or regional firms with relevant property type experience and market knowledge. Under the Account’s current procedures, each independent appraisal firm will be rotated off of a particular property at least every three years, although such appraisal firm may perform appraisals of other Account properties subsequent to such rotation.

We intend that the overarching principle and primary objective when valuing our real estate investments will be to produce a valuation that represents a fair and accurate estimate of the fair value of our investments. Implicit in our definition of fair value is the consummation of a sale as of a specified date and the passing of title from seller to buyer under conditions whereby:

The Account’s net asset value will include the value of any note receivable (an amount that someone else owes the Account) from selling a real estate-related investment. We’ll estimate the value of the note by applying a discount rate appropriate to then-current market conditions.

Development Properties. Development properties will be carried at fair value, which is anticipated initially to equal the Account’s cost, and the value will be adjusted as additional development costs are incurred. At a minimum, once a property receives a certificate of occupancy, within one year from the initial funding by the Account, or the property is substantially leased, whichever is earlier, the property will be appraised by an independent external appraiser, approved by the independent fiduciary. We may also have the properties independently appraised earlier if circumstances warrant.

Property Portfolios. The Account may, at times, value individual properties together (whether or not purchased at the same time) in a portfolio as a single asset, to the extent we believe that the property may be sold as one portfolio. The Account may also realize efficiencies in property management by pooling a number of properties into a portfolio. The value assigned to the portfolio as a whole may be more or less than the valuation of each property individually. The Account will also, from time to time, sell one or more individual properties

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that comprise a portfolio, with the Account retaining title to the remaining individual properties comprising that portfolio. In such a circumstance, the Account could determine to no longer designate such remaining properties as one portfolio.

Because of the nature of real estate assets and because the fair value of our investments is not reduced by transaction costs that will be incurred to sell the investments, the Account’s net asset value won’t necessarily reflect the net realizable value of its real estate assets (i.e., what the Account would receive if it sold them). See “—Valuation Adjustments” on page 63 below.

Valuing Real Property Subject to a Mortgage: When a real estate property is subject to a mortgage, the mortgage is valued independently of the property and its fair value is reported separately. The independent fiduciary reviews and approves all mortgage valuation adjustments before such adjustments are recorded by the Account. The Account will continue to use the revised value for each real estate property and mortgage loan payable to calculate the Account’s daily net asset value until the next valuation review or appraisal.

Valuing Mortgage Loans Receivable (i.e., the Account as a creditor): Mortgage loans receivable are stated at fair value and are initially valued at the face amount of the mortgage loan funding. Subsequently, mortgage loans receivable are valued at least quarterly based on market factors, such as market interest rates and spreads for comparable loans, the liquidity for mortgage loans of similar characteristics, the performance of the underlying collateral and the credit quality of the counterparty.

Valuing Mortgage Loans Payable (i.e., the Account as a debtor): Mortgage loans payable are stated at fair value. The estimated fair value of mortgage loans payable is generally based on the amount at which the liability could be transferred in a current transaction, exclusive of transaction costs. Fair values are estimated based on market factors, such as market interest rates and spreads on comparable loans, the liquidity for mortgage loans of similar characteristics, the performance of the underlying collateral (such as the loan-to-value ratio and the cash flow of the underlying collateral), the maturity date of the loan, the return demands of the market, and the credit quality of the Account. Different assumptions or changes in future market conditions could significantly affect estimated fair values. At times, the Account may assume debt in connection with the purchase of real estate.

Valuing Real Estate Joint Ventures: Real estate joint ventures are stated at the fair value of the Account’s ownership interests in the underlying entities. The Account’s ownership interests are valued based on the fair value of the underlying real estate, any related mortgage loans payable, and other factors, such as ownership percentage, ownership rights, buy/sell agreements, distribution provisions and capital call obligations. In addition, any restrictions on the right of the Account to transfer its ownership interest to third parties could adversely affect the value of the Account’s interest. Upon the disposition of all real estate investments by an investee entity, the Account will continue to

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state its equity in the remaining net assets of the investee entity during the wind down period, if any, that occurs prior to the dissolution of the investee entity.

Valuing Real Estate Limited Partnerships: Limited partnerships are stated at the fair value of the Account’s ownership in the partnership, which is based on the most recent net asset value of the partnership, as reported by the sponsor. Since market quotations are not readily available, the limited partnership interests are valued at fair value as determined in good faith under the direction of the Investment Committee of the Board and in accordance with the responsibilities of the Board as a whole. As circumstances warrant, prior to the receipt of financial statements of the limited partnership, the Account will estimate the value of its interests in good faith and will from time to time seek input from the issuer or the sponsor of the investment vehicle.

Net Operating Income: The Account usually receives operating income from its investments intermittently, not daily. In fairness to participants, we estimate the Account’s net operating income rather than applying it when we actually receive it, and assume that the Account has earned (accrued) a proportionate amount of that estimated amount daily. You bear the risk that, until we adjust the estimates when we receive actual items of income, the Account’s net assets could be under- or over-valued.

Every year, we prepare a month-by-month estimate of the revenues and expenses (estimated net operating income) for each of the Account’s properties. Each day, we add the appropriate fraction of the estimated net operating income for the month to the Account’s net asset value.

Every month, the Account receives a report of the actual operating results for the prior month for each property (actual net operating income). We then recognize the actual net operating income on the accounting records of the Account and adjust the outstanding daily accrued receivable accordingly. As the Account actually receives income from a property, we’ll adjust the daily accrued receivable and other accounts appropriately.

Valuation Adjustments: General. Management reserves the right to order an appraisal and/or conduct another valuation outside of the normal quarterly process when facts or circumstances at a specific property change. Also, the independent fiduciary can require additional appraisals if it believes a property’s value may have changed materially and such change is not reflected in the quarterly valuation review, or otherwise to ensure that the Account is valued appropriately. For example, under certain circumstances a valuation adjustment could be made when bids are obtained for properties held for sale by the Account. In addition, adjustments may be made for events or circumstances indicating an impairment of a tenant’s ability to pay amounts due to the Account under a lease (including due to a bankruptcy filing of that tenant). Also, adjustments may be made to reflect factors (such as sales values for comparable properties or local employment rate) bearing uniquely on a particular region in which the Account holds properties. We may not always be aware of each event that might require a valuation adjustment, and because

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our evaluation is based on subjective factors and we give different weight to different factors, we may not in all cases make a valuation adjustment where changing conditions could potentially affect the value of an investment.

Required Approvals. The independent fiduciary will need to approve adjustments to any valuation of one or more properties or real estate-related assets that:

Right to Change Valuation Methods: If we decide that a different valuation method would reflect the value of a real estate-related investment more accurately, we may use that method if the independent fiduciary consents. Changes in TIAA’s valuation methods could change the Account’s net asset value and change the values at which participants purchase or redeem Account interests.

VALUING OTHER INVESTMENTS (INCLUDING CERTAIN REAL ESTATE-RELATED INVESTMENTS)

Debt Securities and Money Market Instruments: We value debt securities (excluding money market instruments) for which market quotations are readily available based on the most recent bid price or the equivalent quoted yield for such securities (or those of comparable maturity, quality and type). We derive these values utilizing an independent pricing service, such as FT Interactive Data Corp, Reuters and Bloomberg, except when we believe the prices do not accurately reflect the security’s fair value. We value money market instruments with maturities of one year or less in the same manner as debt securities, or by using a pricing matrix that has various types of money market instruments along one axis and various maturities along the other. Debt securities for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the Investment Committee of the Board and in accordance with the responsibilities of the Board as a whole.

Equity Securities: We value equity securities (including REITs) listed or traded on the New York Stock Exchange (or any of its affiliated exchanges) at their last sale price on the valuation day. If no sale is reported that day, we use the mean of the last bid and asked prices, exclusive of transaction costs. Equity securities listed or traded on any other exchange are valued in a comparable manner on the principal exchange where traded.

We value equity securities traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market at the Nasdaq Official Closing Price on the valuation day. If no sale is reported that day, we use the mean of the last bid and asked prices, exclusive of transaction

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costs. Other U.S. over-the-counter equity securities are valued at the mean of the last bid and asked prices.

Mortgage-Backed Securities: We value mortgage-backed securities, including CMBS and RMBS, in the same manner in which we value debt securities, as described above.

Foreign Securities: To value equity and fixed income securities traded on a foreign exchange or in foreign markets, we use their closing values under the generally accepted valuation method in the country where traded, as of the valuation date. We convert this to U.S. dollars at the exchange rate in effect on the valuation day. Under certain circumstances (for example, if there are significant movements in the United States markets and there is an expectation the securities traded on foreign markets will adjust based on such movements when the foreign markets open the next day), the Account may adjust the value of equity or fixed income securities that trade on a foreign exchange or market after the foreign exchange or market has closed.

Investments Lacking Current Market Quotations: We value securities or other assets for which current market quotations are not readily available at fair value as determined in good faith under the direction of the Investment Committee of the Board and in accordance with the responsibilities of the Board as a whole. In evaluating fair value for the Account’s interest in certain commingled investment vehicles, the Account will generally look to the value periodically assigned to interests by the issuer. When possible, the Account will seek to have input in formulating the issuer’s valuation methodology.

EXPENSE DEDUCTIONS

Expense deductions are made each valuation day from the net assets of the Account for various services to manage the Account’s investments, administer the Account and the contracts, distribute the contracts and to cover certain risks borne by TIAA. Investment management, administration and distribution services are provided “at cost” by TIAA and Services. Currently, TIAA provides investment management services and administration services for the Account, and Services provides distribution services for the Account. In addition, TIAA charges the Account a fee to bear certain mortality and expense risks, and risks associated with providing the liquidity guarantee. TIAA guarantees that in the aggregate, the expense charges will never be more than 2.50% of average net assets per year.

The estimated annual expense deduction rate that appears in the expense table below reflects an estimate of the amount we currently expect to deduct to approximate the costs that the Account will incur from May 1, 2012 through April 30, 2013. Actual expenses may be higher or lower. The expenses identified in the table below do not include any fees which may be imposed by your employer under a plan maintained by your employer.

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Type of Expense Deduction		Estimated Percent of Net Assets Annually		Services Performed
Investment Management		0.350%		For investment advisory, investment management, portfolio accounting, custodial and similar services, including independent fiduciary and appraisal fees
Administration		0.260%		For administration and operations of the Account and the contracts, including administrative services such as receiving and allocating premiums and calculating and making annuity payments
Distribution		0.085%		For services and expenses associated with distributing the annuity contracts
Mortality and Expense Risk		0.005%		For TIAA’s bearing certain mortality and expense risks
Liquidity Guarantee		0.220%		For TIAA’s liquidity guarantee
Total Annual Expense Deduction1,2		0.920%		Total

1				TIAA guarantees that the total annual expense deduction will not exceed an annual rate of 2.50% of average net assets.
2				Property-level expenses, including property management fees and transfer taxes, are not reflected in the table above; instead these expenses are charged directly to the Account’s properties.

Since expenses for services provided to the Account are charged to the Account at cost, they are estimates for the year based on projected expense and asset levels. Administration charges include certain costs associated with the provision by TIAA entities of recordkeeping and other services for retirement plans and other pension products in addition to the Account. A portion of these expenses are allocated to the Account in accordance with applicable allocation procedures. In limited circumstances, TIAA may pay third parties for providing certain recordkeeping services for the Account.

At the end of every quarter, we reconcile the amount deducted from the Account during that quarter as discussed above with the expenses the Account actually incurred. If there is a difference, we add it to or deduct it from the Account in equal daily installments over the remaining days in the immediately following quarter, provided that material differences may be repaid in the current calendar quarter in accordance with GAAP. Our at-cost deductions are based on projections of Account assets and overall expenses, and the size of any adjusting payments will be directly affected by how different our projections are from the Account’s actual assets or expenses. The expenses identified in the table above do not include any fees which may be imposed by your employer under a plan maintained by your employer.

The size of the Account’s assets can be affected by many factors, including changes in the value of portfolio holdings, net income earned on the Account’s investments, premium activity and participant transfers into or out of the Account and participant cash withdrawals from the Account. In addition, our operating expenses can fluctuate based on a number of factors including participant transaction volume, operational efficiency, and technological, personnel and other infrastructure costs. Historically, the adjusting payments have resulted in both upward and downward adjustments to the Account’s expense deductions for the following quarter.

The Board can revise the estimated expense rates (the daily deduction rate before the quarterly adjustment referenced above) for the Account from time

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to time, usually on an annual basis, to keep deductions as close as possible to actual expenses.

Currently there are no deductions from premiums, transfers or withdrawals, but we reserve the right to change this in the future. Any such deductions would only be assessed to the extent the relevant contract provided for such deductions at the time the contract was issued.

EMPLOYER PLAN FEE WITHDRAWALS

Your employer may, in accordance with the terms of your plan, and in accordance with TIAA’s policies and procedures, withdraw amounts from your Real Estate Account accumulation under your Retirement Choice or Retirement Choice Plus contract, and, on a limited basis, under your GA, GSRA, GRA or Keogh contract, to pay fees associated with the administration of the plan. These fees are separate from the expense deductions of the Account, and are not included for purposes of TIAA’s guarantee that the total annual expense deduction of the Account will not exceed 2.50% of average net assets per year.

The amount and the effective date of an employer plan fee withdrawal will be in accordance with the terms of your plan. TIAA will determine all values as of the end of the effective date. An employer plan fee withdrawal cannot be revoked after its effective date. Each employer plan fee withdrawal will be made on a pro rata basis from all your available TIAA and CREF accounts. An employer plan fee withdrawal reduces the accumulation from which it is paid by the amount withdrawn.

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS WITH TIAA

As noted elsewhere in this prospectus, the TIAA General Account plays a significant role in operating the Real Estate Account, including providing a liquidity guarantee, and investment advisory, administration and other services. In addition, Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of TIAA, provides distribution services for the Account.

Liquidity Guarantee. As noted above under “Establishing and Managing the Account — The Role of TIAA — Liquidity Guarantee” on page 45, if the Account’s liquid assets and its cash flow from operating activities and participant transactions are insufficient to fund redemption requests, the TIAA General Account has agreed to purchase liquidity units. TIAA thereby guarantees that a participant can redeem accumulation units at their net asset value next determined.

In the years ended December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2009, TIAA purchased liquidity units in a number of separate transactions at a purchase price equal to $155.6 million and approximately $1.1 billion, respectively. Since January 1, 2010 and through the date of this prospectus, the TIAA General Account has purchased no additional liquidity units. These liquidity units are

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valued in the same manner as are accumulation units held by the Account’s participants.

For the years ended December 31, 2011, December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the Account expensed $23.7 million, $13.1 million and $12.4 million, respectively, for this liquidity guarantee from TIAA through a daily deduction from the net assets of the Account.

Investment Advisory, Administration and Distribution Services/Mortality and Expense Risks Borne by TIAA. As noted above under “Expense Deductions” on page 65, deductions are made each valuation day from the net assets of the Account for various services required to manage investments, administer the Account and distribute the contracts. These services are performed at cost by TIAA and Services. Deductions are also made each valuation day to cover mortality and expense risks borne by TIAA.

For the years ended December 31, 2011, December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the Account expensed $53.9 million, $50.2 million and $42.5 million, respectively, for investment advisory services and $6.2 million, $4.4 million and $4.7 million, respectively, for mortality and expense risks provided/borne by TIAA. For the same period, the Account expensed $37.5 million, $28.1 million and $35.8 million, respectively, for administrative and distribution services provided by TIAA and Services, as applicable.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

The Account is party to various claims and routine litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. As of the date of this prospectus, management of the Account does not believe that the results of any such claims or litigation, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material effect on the Account’s business, financial position or results of operations.

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SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The following selected financial data should be considered in conjunction with the Account’s financial statements and notes provided in this prospectus (amounts in thousands except for per accumulation unit amounts).