Organization and Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Organization and Significant Accounting Policies

Organization and Significant Accounting Policies

Business: The TIAA Real Estate Account (“Account”) is an insurance separate account of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”) and was established by resolution of TIAA’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) on February 22, 1995, under the insurance laws of the State of New York, for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts issued by TIAA. 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, and make withdrawals from the Account on a daily basis, 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.

The investment objective of the Account is to seek favorable total returns primarily through the rental income and appreciation of a diversified portfolio of directly held, private real estate investments and real estate-related investments while offering investors guaranteed, daily liquidity. The Account holds real estate properties directly and through subsidiaries wholly-owned by TIAA for the sole benefit of the Account. The Account also holds limited interests in real estate joint ventures and funds, as well as investments in loans receivable with commercial real estate properties as underlying collateral. Additionally, the Account invests in real estate-related and non-real estate-related publicly traded securities, cash and other instruments to maintain adequate liquidity levels for operating expenses, capital expenditures and to fund benefit payments (withdrawals, transfers and related transactions).

Interim Financial Information: The Consolidated Financial Statements of the Account as of September 30, 2024 and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 are unaudited and include all adjustments necessary to present a fair statement of results for the interim periods presented. Results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the entire year. These Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, certain footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted from this report pursuant to the rules of the SEC. As a result, these Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in the Account’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 (“2023 Form 10-K”).

Use of Estimates: The Consolidated Financial Statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, which requires the use of estimates made by management. Actual results may vary from those estimates and such differences may be material.

Basis of Presentation: The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the Account and those subsidiaries wholly-owned by TIAA for the benefit of the Account. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions between the Account and such subsidiaries have been eliminated.

The Accumulation Unit Value (“AUV”) used for financial reporting purposes may differ from the AUV used for processing transactions. The AUV used for financial reporting purposes includes security and contract owner transactions, as well as purchases and sales of liquidity units by TIAA, effective through the period end date to which this report relates. Total return is computed based on the AUV used for processing transactions.

Significant Accounting Policy Updates: There were no changes to the Account’s significant accounting policies as described in the Account’s 2023 Form 10-K.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements: In March 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU" or "Update") 2023-01—Leases (Topic 842): Common Control

Arrangements. The amendments in this Update provide a practical expedient for private companies and not-for-profit entities that are not conduit bond obligors to use the written terms and conditions of a common control arrangement to determine: (1) Whether a lease exists and, if so, (2) The classification of and accounting for that lease. The practical expedient may be applied on an arrangement-by-arrangement basis. If no written terms and conditions exist, an entity is prohibited from applying the practical expedient and must evaluate the enforceable terms and conditions to apply FASB’s Accounting Standards Classification (“ASC”) Topic 842. In addition, the ASU requires all entities (that is, including public companies) to amortize leasehold improvements associated with common control leases over the useful life to the common control group. Lastly, leasehold improvements should be accounted for as a transfer between entities under common control through an adjustment to equity (or net assets for not-for-profit entities) if, and when, the lessee no longer controls the use of the underlying asset. Additionally, those leasehold improvements are subject to the impairment guidance in ASC Topic 360, Property, Plant, and Equipment. The amendments in this Update were effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. There was no material impact as a result of the adoption of this guidance on January 1, 2024, to the Account.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (“ASU 2020-04”). The guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contract modifications and hedging relationships, subject to meeting certain criteria, that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") or another reference rate expected to be discontinued. In December 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-06, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Deferral of the Sunset Date of Topic 848 (“ASU 2022-06”). To ensure the relief established in ASU 2020-04 covers the period of time during which a significant number of modifications may take place, ASU 2022-06 defers the sunset date of ASC Topic 848 from December 31, 2022, to December 31, 2024, after which entities will no longer be permitted to apply the relief in Topic 848. ASU 2022-06 is effective for all entities upon issuance. There was no material impact as a result of the adoption of this guidance to the Account.

In August 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-05, Business Combinations— Joint Venture Formations (Subtopic 805-60): Recognition and Initial Measurement, intended to (1) provide investors and other allocators of capital with more decision-useful information in a joint venture’s separate financial statements and (2) reduce diversity in practice in this area of financial reporting. The amendments in ASU 2023-05 require that a joint venture, upon formation, apply a new basis of accounting. As a result, a newly formed joint venture should initially measure its assets and liabilities at fair value (with exceptions to fair value measurement that are consistent with the business combinations guidance). The amendments in ASU 2023-05 are effective prospectively for all joint venture formations with a formation date on or after January 1, 2025. Additionally, a joint venture that was formed before January 1, 2025, may elect to apply the amendments retrospectively if it has sufficient information. Early adoption is permitted in any interim or annual period in which financial statements have not yet been issued (or made available for issuance), either prospectively or retrospectively. Management does not expect the guidance to have a material impact to the Account.