Condensed Consolidated Statements of Shareholders Equity (USD $)	Total	Common Stock [Member]	Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Retained Earnings [Member]	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]	Total Shareholders Equity [Member]
Balance at Dec. 29, 2010		$ 1,645,000	$ 1,446,559,000	$ (214,216,000)	$ (11,686,000)	$ 1,222,302,000
Balance, shares at Dec. 29, 2010		164,511,253
Shareholders Equity [Line Items]
Net Loss Attributable to Chambers Street Properties Shareholders	(14,414,000)	0	0	(14,414,000)	0	(14,414,000)
Other Comprehensive Loss		0	0	0	(9,871,000)	(9,871,000)
Net Contributions From Public Offering of Common Shares, $0.01 Par Value		468,000	465,345,000	0	0	465,813,000
Net Contributions From Public Offering of Common Shares, $0.01 Par Value, shares		46,784,125
Trustee Common Shares		0	28,000	0	0	28,000
Trustee Common Shares, shares		3,000
Costs Associated with Public Offering	(47,943,000)	0	(47,943,000)	0	0	(47,943,000)
Redemption of Common Shares		(28,000)	(25,449,000)	0	0	(25,477,000)
Redemption of Common Shares, shares		(2,786,617)
Adjustment to Record Non-Controlling Interest at Redemption Value		0	(141,000)	0	0	(141,000)
Distributions		0	0	(82,343,000)	0	(82,343,000)
Balance at Sep. 30, 2011		2,085,000	1,838,399,000	(310,973,000)	(21,557,000)	1,507,954,000
Balance, shares at Sep. 30, 2011		208,511,761
Balance at Dec. 31, 2011		2,309,000	2,038,566,000	(348,602,000)	(23,664,000)	1,668,609,000
Balance, shares at Dec. 31, 2011	230,955,633	230,955,633
Shareholders Equity [Line Items]
Net Loss Attributable to Chambers Street Properties Shareholders	(16,430,000)	0	0	(16,430,000)	0	(16,430,000)
Other Comprehensive Loss		0	0	0	(1,402,000)	(1,402,000)
Net Contributions From Public Offering of Common Shares, $0.01 Par Value		223,000	219,539,000	0	0	219,762,000
Net Contributions From Public Offering of Common Shares, $0.01 Par Value, shares		22,276,303
Executive Common Shares		0	15,000	0	0	15,000
Executive Common Shares, shares		0
Costs Associated with Public Offering	(18,337,000)	0	(18,337,000)	0	0	(18,337,000)
Redemption of Common Shares		(38,000)	(35,850,000)	0	0	(35,888,000)
Redemption of Common Shares, shares		(3,841,599)
Adjustment to Record Non-Controlling Interest at Redemption Value		0	(121,000)	0	0	(121,000)
Distributions		0	0	(111,466,000)	0	(111,466,000)
Balance at Sep. 30, 2012		$ 2,494,000	$ 2,203,812,000	$ (476,498,000)	$ (25,066,000)	$ 1,704,742,000
Balance, shares at Sep. 30, 2012	230,955,633	249,390,337