COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			36 Months Ended	48 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended										0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 19, 2013 Person	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 claim	Dec. 31, 2013 subsidiary lot claim	Dec. 31, 2012 Contract	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013 claim	Dec. 31, 2010 claim	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member]	Jul. 02, 2011 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Meris [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Meris [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Meris [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Meris [Member]	Jul. 02, 2011 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Darak [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Darak [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Darak [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Employment Agreements [Member] Mr Darak [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Project One [Member] unit	Dec. 31, 2013 Project One [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Project Two [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 New World Realty Advisors Llc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 New World Realty Advisors Llc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 New World Realty Advisors Llc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 New World Realty Advisors Llc [Member]	Jul. 02, 2011 ITH Partners LLC [Member]	Aug. 31, 2011 ITH Partners LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 ITH Partners LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 ITH Partners LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 ITH Partners LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Juniper Capital Partners Llc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Juniper Capital Partners Llc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Juniper Capital Partners Llc [Member]	Mar. 19, 2013 Deposit For Settlement [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Convertible Notes Payable [Member] Accredited Investors [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Community Facility District Bonds and Special Assessment Bond [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Loan Agreement With Eda [Member]	Mar. 19, 2013 Subordinated Debt [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Subordinated Debt [Member] Future Contingency [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Apple Valley [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Apple Valley [Member] Loan Agreement With Eda [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Unencumbered Deed to a Residential Property [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Title to Residential Property [Member]	Feb. 12, 2012 Subsequent Event [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Kurtz Plaintiffs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Scenario, Forecast [Member] Project One [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Scenario, Forecast [Member] Project Two [Member] bed
Contractual Agreements [Abstract]
Consulting Agreement Period																							4 years
Consulting Agreement Extended Terms																								P3Y
Non Contingent Monthly Consulting Fee																								$ 125,000
Percentage Of Origination Fee (in percentage)																								1.00%
Percentage Of Legacy Assets Performance Fee (in percentage)																								10.00%
Percentage of Carrying Value Used to Calculate Legacy Assets Performance Fee																								110.00%
Management Fee, Amount Paid																								1,500,000	1,500,000	1,300,000
Legacy Assets Performance Fee																								300,000	500,000	200,000			100,000	200,000	100,000
Base Legacy Assets Performance Fee, Paid																								400,000
Consulting Agreement Initial Period																													4 years			4 years
Consulting Agreement Renewable Terms																													P3Y			P3Y
Average Annual Base Consulting Fees Multiplier to Determine Lump Sum Payment in Event of Non-renewal or Termination Without Cause of Consulting Agreement																													2
Length of Prior Years to Determine Lump Sum Payment in Event of Non-renewal or Termination Without Cause of Consulting Agreement																													2 years
Annual Consulting Fees																													800,000			300,000
Consulting Fees																													800,000	800,000	500,000		300,000	200,000
One Time Consulting Fees																															1,900,000
Long-term Debt, Gross			4,800,000	4,800,000				4,800,000																							50,000,000
Consulting Fees Related to Financing Secured and Related Asset Acquisition																													200,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Issued for Services (in shares)																														50,000
Professional Fees				7,260,000	5,941,000	6,163,000																							100,000	100,000	50,000
Single Asset Real Estate Carrying Value			10,000,000	10,000,000				10,000,000
Percentage of Valuation Mark of Any Assets Then Owned by Entity to Determine Legacy Asset Performance Fee																													110.00%
Employment Agreements for Executive Officers [Abstract]
Annual Base Salary													600,000				300,000
Percentage of Base Salary to Determine Annual Cash Target Bonus													100.00%				100.00%
Share-Based Compensation Arrangement By Share-Based Payment Award, Options, Grants In Period, Gross				40,000	5,000							150,000				60,000											150,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Expiration Period												10 years				10 years											10 years
Share-Based Compensation Arrangements By Share-Based Payment Award, Options, Grants In Period, Weighted Average Exercise Price (in dollars per share)				$ 7.39	$ 4.51							$ 9.58				$ 9.58											$ 9.58
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Award Vesting Period												36 months				36 months												36 months
Guaranteed Bonus																	0	0	100,000
Employment Agreement Period												3 years				2 years
Employment Agreement, Renewable Terms													1 year				1 year
Number of Days Prior to Termination of Employment Agreement Provided by Board of Directors													90 days				90 days
Percentage of Average Annual Base Salary to Determine Lump Sum Payment in Connection with Certain Terminations and Disability													200.00%				100.00%
Percentage of Average Annual Base Salary in Event of Non-renewal of Employment or Death to Determine Lump Sum Payment in Connection with Certain Terminations and Disability													100.00%
Number of Prior Years Annual Bonus to Determine Lump Sum Payment in Connection with Certain Terminations and Disability													2 years				2 years
Officers' Compensation													600,000	600,000	500,000		300,000	300,000	300,000
Development Services Agreements [Abstract]
Number of Development Service Agreements Entered Into During Period					2
Assets Held-for-sale, at Carrying Value			11,900,000	11,900,000				11,900,000
Number Of Multifamily Housing Complex To Be Constructed																				332
Construction and Development Costs																																															55,700,000	51,700,000
Construction Loan																																															39,000,000	36,000,000
Number Of Student Housing Complex To Be Constructed																																																600
Predevelopment Service Fee Payable			200,000	200,000				200,000
Percentage Of Net Project Cost			3.00%	3.00%				3.00%																					3.00%
Project Cost																					3,300,000	5,000,000
Percentage Of Profit Attributable To Postdevelopment Service Fee (in percentage)										7.00%	10.00%
Minimum Number of Months Following Achievement of Occupancy to Determine Post-development Services Fee				15 months
Target Occupancy Percentage			90.00%	90.00%				90.00%
Predevelopment Service Fee Paid				200,000	100,000
Contingencies Estimated Receipts Under Development Agreement Maximum																																									6,500,000
Maximum Amount Of Advances Under Loan Agreement																																										1,100,000
Amount Of Advances Received Under Loan Agreement																																										200,000
Contingencies Minimum Sales Under Development Agreement																																									800,000
Minimum Lot Purchase Price			6,100,000	6,100,000				6,100,000
Number of Lots Sold to the Builder Under the Contract During the Period				12
Bankruptcy Claims, Number of Filed Claims Likely to be Denied			1	1				1
Past due and in default																																					5,220,000
Subordinated Debt, Noncurrent																																							20,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage (in percentage)			12.00%	12.00%				12.00%																														6.00%	4.00%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Term																																							5 years
Litigation Settlement, Number of Shares Authorized to be Repurchased (in shares)	2,493,765
Number Of Shares To Be Repurchased For Debt Issuance (in shares)																																								1,200,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price (in dollars per share)																																								$ 8.02
Convertible Debt																																				10,000,000
Escrow Deposit	1,570,000																																		225,000
Number of Independent Directors Appointed to Board of Directors Upon Satisfaction of Certain Conditions in Settlement	2
Number of Persons in Investor Advisory Committee in Settlement Agreement	5
Number of Members in Board of Directors in Settlement Agreement	7
Litigation Settlement, Expense																																														1,300,000
Number of Single Asset Subsidiaries Placed into Bankruptcy				2
Loans Foreclosed, Accrued Default Interest, Percentage			24.00%	24.00%				24.00%
Loans Foreclosed, Amount of Principal and Accrued Default Interest Received From Guarantor							16,400,000	19,800,000
Loan Foreclosed, Cash Received from Guarantor		200,000
Loan Foreclosed, Cash Received from Guarantor, Recognized In Period					200,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure																																											300,000	3,800,000
Loss Contingency, Pending Claims, Number									3
Number of days following Final Approval to initiate Exchange Offering and Rights Offering				30 days
Number of Business Days Remained Open for Exchange Offering and Rights Offering																																													25 days
Payments for Legal Settlements			1,300,000		1,600,000	1,570,000
Litigation Settlement, Number of Shares Acquired to Settle Lawsuit				41,659																																										41,659
Proceeds from legal settlement allocated to acquisition of stock				$ 200,000																																										$ 200,000