Capital of the Operating Partnership (Details Textual) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions		3 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 shares
Limited Partners' Capital Account [Line Items]
Partnership units (in shares)	[1]	121,412,251
Limited Partnership (LP), ownership interest ( percentage)		90.30%
Equity, redemption basis		1
Redemption price, threshold consecutive trading days (days)		10 days
OP Unit redemption (in shares)		150,503
OP Units
Limited Partners' Capital Account [Line Items]
Non-controlling interest redemption value | $		$ 245.1
Redemption value (usd per share) | $ / shares		$ 20.97
ROIC Capital | Retail Opportunity Investments Partnership L.P.
Limited Partners' Capital Account [Line Items]
Partnership units (in shares)	[1]	109,726,196.000	109,301,762
OP Unit redemption (in shares)	[1]	150,503
Limited Partner’s Capital | Retail Opportunity Investments Partnership L.P.
Limited Partners' Capital Account [Line Items]
Partnership units (in shares)	[2]	11,686,055	11,668,061
OP Unit redemption (in shares)	[2]	(150,503)

[1] Consists of general and limited partnership interests held by ROIC.

[2] Consists of limited partnership interests held by third parties.