Debt (Narratives) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended								1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 loan property	Dec. 31, 2012 loan	Dec. 31, 2011 loan	Nov. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2011 Carey Storage	Dec. 31, 2013 Fixed interest rate	Dec. 31, 2011 Fixed interest rate Carey Storage	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable interest rate	Dec. 31, 2013 Domestic	Dec. 31, 2011 Domestic	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Balloon Payments	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility	Jan. 31, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility Subsequent Event	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Maximum Eurocurrency Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Maximum Eurocurrency Non Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Maximum Base Rate Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Maximum Base Rate Non Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Minimum Eurocurrency Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Minimum Eurocurrency Non Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Minimum Base Rate Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility Minimum Base Rate Non Investment Grade	Dec. 31, 2013 Term Loan Facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan Facility	Jan. 31, 2014 Term Loan Facility Subsequent Event	Jul. 31, 2013 Senior Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Credit Facility	Feb. 29, 2012 Senior Credit Facility	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior Credit Facility Subsequent Event	Jul. 31, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan	Dec. 31, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan	Dec. 31, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan Maximum Eurocurrency	Dec. 31, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan Maximum Base Rate	Dec. 31, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan Minimum Eurocurrency	Dec. 31, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan Minimum Base Rate	Dec. 31, 2012 CPA15 Merger	Sep. 28, 2012 CPA15 Merger property	Dec. 31, 2012 CPA15 Merger Fixed interest rate loan	Dec. 31, 2012 CPA15 Merger Variable interest rate loan	Dec. 31, 2011 CPA 14	May 31, 2011 CPA 14 loan property
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument, covenant compliance	We were in compliance with all of these covenants at December 31, 2013.
Revolving Line Of Credit
Line of credit, maximum borrowing amount													$ 450,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000											$ 175,000,000		$ 250,000,000		$ 625,000,000		$ 450,000,000	$ 1,250,000,000.00	$ 300,000,000.0
Amount outstanding														765,000,000												175,000,000			275,000,000	253,000,000		765,000,000		300,000,000
Amount available in foreign currency											150,000,000
Amount available for swing line loan											35,000,000
Amount available for letter of credit											50,000,000
Debt instrument stated interest rate																2.00%	2.50%	1.00%	1.50%		1.10%	1.75%	0.10%	0.75%											2.35%	1.35%	1.60%	0.60%
Debt Instrument unused borrowing capacity fee (percentage)															0.40%					0.30%
Payment of outstanding debt	413,000,000	280,160,000	160,000,000																														250,000,000
Line of credit facility, available																													925,000,000	625,000,000
Debt scheduled to mature in 2014	835,086,000											216,100,000	100,000,000												175,000,000
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate																													1.75%	2.00%				1.60%
Letters of credit outstanding amount																													3,200,000
Maximum cash distribution, percent of Adjusted Funds from Operations	95.00%
Maximum cash distribution	50,000,000
Payments of financing costs	2,368,000	2,557,000	7,778,000																									7,000,000						1,500,000
Non Recourse Debt
Collateral mortgage loan, carrying value	1,900,000,000	2,000,000,000																																									88,700,000
Mortgage loan on real estate, minimum interest rate						2.70%		1.30%
Mortgage loan on real estate, maximum interest rate						7.80%		7.60%
Debt instrument maturity date, range start	Dec. 31, 2014
Debt instrument maturity date, range end	Dec. 31, 2026
Amount of debt acquired	76,500,000	23,800,000	11,900,000	21,023,000	2,800,000		4,600,000		39,100,000																																1,100,000,000	295,200,000	87,600,000
Mortgage loans on real estate, interest rate	5.00%	4.20%	5.10%		6.70%				3.90%																																5.08%	5.03%	5.80%
Mortgage loan term	9 years 3 months 18 days	11 years 6 months	10 years 4 months 24 days		8 years 2 months 12 days				9 years 6 months																																		8 years 3 months 18 days
Number of Loans	4	4	2
Number of loans assumed																																									58	9		2
Repayments of Debt	48,700,000	21,200,000	10,500,000
Proceeds from Issuance of Secured Debt	115,567,000	23,750,000	45,491,000							29,000,000
Number of real estate properties	418																																							305				3
Fair value market adjustment																																							$ 14,800,000				$ 1,100,000