Investments in and Advances to Joint Ventures - Service Fees and Income Earned by Company's Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Equity Method Investments And Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Management and other fees	$ 24.9ddr_ManagementAndOtherFees	$ 29.3ddr_ManagementAndOtherFees	$ 28.6ddr_ManagementAndOtherFees
Development fees and leasing commissions	6.4	10.0	8.7
Interest income	$ 11.0ddr_InterestIncome	$ 16.1ddr_InterestIncome	$ 9.7ddr_InterestIncome

Service fees and income earned for development and leasing in accordance with management contracts related to equity method investments.

No definition available.

Name:	ddr_DevelopmentFeesAndLeasingCommissionsRelatedToUnconsolidatedJointVenturesRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	ddr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration