EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Numerator:
Income from continuing operations	$ 8,682	$ 6,238	$ 5,677	$ 3,437	$ 3,462	$ 3,514	$ 3,841	$ 7,897	$ 24,034	$ 18,713	$ 28,233
Less: net income attributable to participating securities									466	384	389
Income from continuing operations net of income									23,568	18,329	27,844
Effect of dilutive securities:
Preferred OP Unit distributions									18	18	18
Numerator for diluted earnings per Common Share									$ 23,586	$ 18,347	$ 27,862
Denominator:
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share									45,854,000	40,697,000	40,136,000
Effect of dilutive securities:
Employee share options									456,000	264,000	245,000
Convertible Preferred OP Units									25,000	25,000	25,000
Dilutive potential Common Shares									481,000	289,000	270,000
Denominator for diluted earnings per share	50,582,584	46,812,349	44,673,565	43,146,093	42,066,390	40,628,781	40,633,317	40,580,173	46,335,000	40,986,000	40,406,000
Basic earnings per Common Share from continuing operations attributable to Common Shareholders	$ 0.17	$ 0.13	$ 0.13	$ 0.08	$ 0.08	$ 0.09	$ 0.09	$ 0.19	$ 0.51	$ 0.45	$ 0.69
Diluted earnings per Common Share from continuing operations attributable to Common Shareholders	$ 0.17	$ 0.13	$ 0.13	$ 0.08	$ 0.08	$ 0.09	$ 0.09	$ 0.19	$ 0.51	$ 0.45	$ 0.69
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount									25,067	25,067	25,067
Series A Preferred Stock [Member] | Acadia Realty, LP [Member]
Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted [Line Items]
Series A Preferred OP Units	188				188				188	188	188