Investments in and Advances to Joint Ventures - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	4 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Apr. 28, 2014 DDR [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 DDR [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 DDR [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 28, 2014 Sonae Sierra Brazil [Member] BRL ShoppingCenter	Sep. 30, 2013 Sonae Sierra Brazil [Member] BRL	Sep. 30, 2014 Unconsolidated Joint Ventures [Member] USD ($) ShoppingCenter	Dec. 31, 2013 Unconsolidated Joint Ventures [Member] USD ($) ShoppingCenter	Sep. 30, 2014 BRE DDR Retail Holdings II [Member] ShoppingCenter	Dec. 31, 2013 BRE DDR Retail Holdings II [Member] USD ($) ShoppingCenter sqft
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Shopping centers owned								10		147	170
Number of shopping centers												7	7
Number of square feet of gross leasable area of shopping centers													2,300,000
Ownership interest of joint venture partner												95.00%
Redeemable preferred equity										$ 38,635,000	$ 71,771,000		$ 30,000,000
Ownership interest in joint venture					50.00%			66.00%
Proceeds from sale of unconsolidated joint venture assets					343,600,000
Investment interest percentage					33.00%
Gain on Sale of Interests	3,984,000	0	87,814,000	1,066,000		83,800,000
Gain on sale and change in control of interests			19,700,000				19,700,000
Weighted-average exchange rate used for recording the equity in net income								2.26	2.10
Number of properties sold										8
Proceeds from sale of unconsolidated joint venture assets							21,100,000			106,100,000
Gain on sale of unconsolidated joint venture assets							$ 7,700,000			$ 32,100,000