Pension funds are having a hard time placing their money in real estate. They are nowhere near hanging themselves but, like the characters in Waiting for Godot, they are waiting, waiting for something to happen. According to 2013 Tax-Exempt Real Estate — the latest annual investor survey conducted jointly by Institutional Real Estate, Inc. (IREI) and Kingsley Associates — a whopping $72.5 billion of U.S. tax-exempt real estate investors’ money has yet to be placed.

From October 2012 to January 2013, data was gathered from 80 real estate officers of corporate and public pension funds, foundations, and endowments. Together, they have $163 billion in real estate assets under management, representing 45 percent of the tax-exempt universe. Extrapola