Discontinued Operations (Details 1) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Summary of operating results of discontinued operations
Revenues	$ 0	$ 6,995,000
Expenses
Operating expenses	0	4,775,000
Depreciation and amortization	0	987,000
Total expenses	0	5,762,000
Gain on disposition of rental properties	0	26,824,000
Interest expense	0	(5,483,000)
Amortization of mortgage procurement costs	0	(41,000)
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	(17,000)
Earnings before income taxes	0	22,516,000
Income tax expense	0	10,644,000
Earnings from discontinued operations	0	11,872,000
Noncontrolling interest
Gain on disposition of rental properties	0	58,000
Operating loss from rental properties	0	(8,000)
Earnings from discontinued operations attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	50,000
Earnings from discontinued operations attributable to Forest City Enterprises, Inc.	$ 0	$ 11,822,000