Real Estate, Operating Real Estate, and Assets Held for Sale - Pro Forma Financial Information (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Pro forma total revenues	$ 442,972	$ 437,295
Pro forma net income	184,487	165,489
Pro forma net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(38,863)	(39,915)
Pro forma net income attributable to CPA:17 – Global	$ 145,624	$ 125,574
Pro forma basic and diluted weighted-average shares outstanding (shares)	342,147,444	334,468,362
Pro-forma basic and diluted income per share (usd per share)	$ 0.43	$ 0.38

Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share, Pro Forma

No definition available.

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- Definition

The pro forma net Income or Loss for the period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period before noncontrolling interest.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The pro forma net Income or Loss for the period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period attributable to noncontrolling interest.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Pro Forma Weighted Average Shares Outstanding, Basic and Diluted

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The pro forma net Income or Loss for the period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(2)-(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

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- Definition

The pro forma revenue for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of the period.

+ References

+ Details

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