Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Tax Treatment of Common Dividends Per Share for Federal Tax Purposes [Table Text Block]

For income tax purposes, distributions paid to the Company's common shareholders consist of ordinary income, capital gains, return of capital or a combination thereof. Dividends per share were taxable as follows:

Common dividends per share:	2011		2010		2009
Ordinary income	$	0.7938	$	0.5361	$	0.7154
Capital gain	—		—		0.0126
Return of capital	—		0.2364		0.0358
	$	0.7938	$	0.7725	$	0.7638

GAAP Reconciliation of Net Income to Taxable Income [Table Text Block]

The following reconciles net income available to the Company's shareholders to taxable income available to common shareholders for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009:

	2011			2010			2009
Net income available to the Company's shareholders	$	44,641		$	34,249		$	58,019
Preferred share dividends paid	—			(6,219		)	(5,625		)
Book/tax difference on:
Depreciation and amortization	16,232			23,469			27,920
Loss on sale or disposal of real estate	(3,113		)	(6,706		)	(2,449		)
Equity in earnings (losses) from unconsolidated
joint ventures	2,482			1,326			919
Share-based payment compensation	(491		)	(3,154		)	(1,919		)
Gain on acquisition	—			—			(26,946		)
Gain on exchange of convertible notes	—			—			(10,285		)
Other differences	997			(5,169		)	3,191
Taxable income available to common shareholders	$	60,748		$	37,796		$	42,825