Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Revenues:
Rental	$ 110,683	$ 109,248	$ 218,267	$ 215,300
Tenant recoveries	34,041	33,147	68,563	66,008
Other income	9,381	926	12,010	1,703
Total revenues	154,105	143,321	298,840	283,011
Expenses:
Rental operations	44,506	40,595	87,888	81,630
General and administrative	12,324	10,764	22,685	20,258
Interest	17,922	16,567	34,149	34,377
Depreciation and amortization	52,316	40,173	95,682	76,716
Total expenses	127,068	108,099	240,404	212,981
Income from continuing operations before loss on early extinguishment of debt	27,037	35,222	58,436	70,030
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	(1,602)	(1,248)	(2,225)	(3,743)
Income from continuing operations	25,435	33,974	56,211	66,287
Income from discontinued operations, net	206	337	341	649
Gain on sale of land parcel			1,864
Net income	25,641	34,311	58,416	66,936
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	851	938	1,562	1,867
Dividends on preferred stock	6,903	7,089	14,386	14,178
Preferred stock redemption charge			5,978
Net income attributable to unvested restricted stock awards	271	298	506	540
Net income attributable to Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.'s common stockholders	$ 17,616	$ 25,986	$ 35,984	$ 50,351
Earnings per share attributable to Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.'s common stockholders-basic and diluted:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.29	$ 0.43	$ 0.57	$ 0.88
Discontinued operations, net (in dollars per share)		$ 0.01	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Earnings per share - basic and diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.29	$ 0.44	$ 0.58	$ 0.89