Earnings per share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Reconciliation of basic and diluted EPS
Net income	$ 654,282	$ 827,171	$ 404,047
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(83,035)	(56,212)	(40,882)
Dividends on preferred stock	0	0	(3,204)
Preferred stock redemption charge	0	0	(2,580)
Net income attributable to unvested restricted stock awards	(7,848)	(10,168)	(6,386)
Numerator for basic and diluted EPS – net income attributable to Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.’s common stockholders	$ 563,399	$ 760,791	$ 350,995
Denominator for basic EPS – weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding	146,921	126,106	112,204
Dilutive effect of forward equity sales agreements	539	384	320
Denominator for diluted EPS – weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding	147,460	126,490	112,524
Earnings per share attributable to Alexandria's common stockholders – basic and diluted:
Earnings per share - basic (USD per share)	$ 3.83	$ 6.03	$ 3.13
Earnings per share - diluted (USD per share)	$ 3.82	$ 6.01	$ 3.12