Equity, Capital and Other Interests (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Common shares and units rollforward

The following tables present the changes in the Company’s issued and outstanding Common Shares and “Units” (which includes OP Units and restricted units (formerly known as Long-Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) Units)) for the six months ended June 30, 2015:

	2015
Common Shares
Common Shares outstanding at January 1,	362,855,454
Common Shares Issued:
Conversion of OP Units	171,353
Exercise of share options	814,827
Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP)	40,873
Restricted share grants, net	169,667
Common Shares Other:
Conversion of restricted shares to restricted units	(1,284	)
Common Shares outstanding at June 30,	364,050,890
Units
Units outstanding at January 1,	14,298,691
Restricted units, net	337,505
Conversion of restricted shares to restricted units	1,284
Conversion of OP Units to Common Shares	(171,353	)
Units outstanding at June 30,	14,466,127
Total Common Shares and Units outstanding at June 30,	378,517,017
Units Ownership Interest in Operating Partnership	3.8	%

Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest [Table Text Block]

The following table presents the changes in the redemption value of the Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests – Operating Partnership for the six months ended June 30, 2015 (amounts in thousands):

	2015
Balance at January 1,	$	500,733
Change in market value	(13,966		)
Change in carrying value	1,411
Balance at June 30,	$	488,178

Schedule Of Preferred Stock [Table Text Block]

The following table presents the Company’s issued and outstanding Preferred Shares as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014:

				Amounts in thousands
	Redemption Date (1)	Annual Dividend per Share (2)		June 30, 2015		December 31, 2014
Preferred Shares of beneficial interest, $0.01 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized:
8.29% Series K Cumulative Redeemable Preferred; liquidation value $50 per share; 803,600 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2015 and 1,000,000 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2014 (3)	12/10/26		$4.145	$	40,180	$	50,000
				$	40,180	$	50,000

(1) On or after the redemption date, redeemable preferred shares may be redeemed for cash at the option of the Company, in whole or

in part, at a redemption price equal to the liquidation price per share, plus accrued and unpaid distributions, if any.

(2) Dividends on Preferred Shares are payable quarterly.

(3) Effective January 26, 2015, the Company repurchased and retired 196,400 Series K Preferred Shares with a par value of $9.82 million for total cash consideration of approximately $12.7 million. As a result of this partial redemption, the Company incurred a cash charge of approximately $2.8 million which was recorded as a premium on the redemption of Preferred Shares.

Limited Partner [Member]

Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest [Table Text Block]

The following table presents the changes in the redemption value of the Redeemable Limited Partners for the six months ended June 30, 2015 (amounts in thousands):

	2015
Balance at January 1,	$	500,733
Change in market value	(13,966		)
Change in carrying value	1,411
Balance at June 30,	$	488,178

Schedule Of Preferred Stock [Table Text Block]

The following table presents the Operating Partnership’s issued and outstanding “Preference Units” as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014:

				Amounts in thousands
	Redemption Date (1)	Annual Dividend per Unit (2)		June 30, 2015		December 31, 2014
Preference Units:
8.29% Series K Cumulative Redeemable Preference Units; liquidation value $50 per unit; 803,600 units issued and outstanding at June 30, 2015 and 1,000,000 units issued and outstanding at December 31, 2014 (3)	12/10/26		$4.145	$	40,180	$	50,000
				$	40,180	$	50,000

(1) On or after the redemption date, redeemable preference units may be redeemed for cash at the option of the Operating Partnership, in whole or in part, at a redemption price equal to the liquidation price per unit, plus accrued and unpaid distributions, if any, in conjunction with the concurrent redemption of the corresponding Company Preferred Shares.

(2) Dividends on Preference Units are payable quarterly.

(3) Effective January 26, 2015, the Operating Partnership repurchased and retired 196,400 Series K Preference Units with a par value of $9.82 million for total cash consideration of approximately $12.7 million, in conjunction with the concurrent redemption of the corresponding Company Preferred Shares. As a result of this partial redemption, the Operating Partnership incurred a cash charge of approximately $2.8 million which was recorded as a premium on the redemption of Preference Units.

Limited Partner [Member]

Common shares and units rollforward

The following tables present the changes in the Operating Partnership’s issued and outstanding Units and in the limited partners’ Units for the six months ended June 30, 2015:

	2015
General and Limited Partner Units
General and Limited Partner Units outstanding at January 1,	377,154,145
Issued to General Partner:
Exercise of EQR share options	814,827
EQR’s Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP)	40,873
EQR's restricted share grants, net	169,667
Issued to Limited Partners:
Restricted units, net	337,505
General and Limited Partner Units outstanding at June 30,	378,517,017
Limited Partner Units
Limited Partner Units outstanding at January 1,	14,298,691
Limited Partner restricted units, net	337,505
Conversion of EQR restricted shares to restricted units	1,284
Conversion of Limited Partner OP Units to EQR Common Shares	(171,353	)
Limited Partner Units outstanding at June 30,	14,466,127
Limited Partner Units Ownership Interest in Operating Partnership	3.8	%