Selected Quarterly Financial Information (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Selected Quarterly Financial Information
Revenues	$ 110,328	$ 108,202	$ 109,667	$ 98,750	$ 98,784	$ 97,987	$ 98,786	$ 101,149	$ 426,947	$ 396,706	$ 362,772
Expenses	56,736	54,253	53,795	54,108	57,025	52,313	53,365	58,523	218,892	221,226	216,832
Net Income	31,702	29,199	39,375	23,844	28,787	19,482	42,246	16,478	124,120	106,993	67,649
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(10,569)	(9,147)	(10,935)	(9,264)	(8,332)	(9,193)	(7,640)	(7,677)	(39,915)	(32,842)	(28,935)
Net income attributable to CPA®:17 – Global	$ 21,133	$ 20,052	$ 28,440	$ 14,580	$ 20,455	$ 10,289	$ 34,606	$ 8,801	$ 84,205	$ 74,151	$ 38,714
Net income attributable to CPA®:17 – Global (usd per share)	$ 0.06	$ 0.06	$ 0.09	$ 0.04	$ 0.06	$ 0.03	$ 0.11	$ 0.03	$ 0.25	$ 0.23	$ 0.12
Distributions declared per share, (usd per share)	$ 0.1625	$ 0.1625	$ 0.1625	$ 0.1625	$ 0.1625	$ 0.1625	$ 0.1625	$ 0.1625	$ 0.6500	$ 0.6500	$ 0.6500