Mortgage and Other Indebtedness (Details) (USD $)			3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended																														3 Months Ended																						3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014 Wells Fargo Bank [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]	Nov. 30, 2013 Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Senior Unsecured Notes [Member] Maximum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Senior Unsecured Notes [Member] Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured lines of credit [Member] Loans	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Line of Credit 1 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Term Loan 3 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Term Loan 2 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Debt Covenant Requirement [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Debt Covenant Requirement [Member] Unsecured Credit Facility and Term Loan [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Debt Covenant Ratios Actual [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Debt Covenant Ratios Actual [Member] Unsecured Credit Facility and Term Loan [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Fixed Rate Interest [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Fixed Rate Interest [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member] Maximum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member] Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Financing method obligation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Fixed Rate Interest [Member] Financing method obligation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Construction loan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Construction loan [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable Rate Interest Member [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Minimum [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Maximum [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Interest Rate Swap [Member] Loans	Mar. 31, 2014 The Promenade at Dlberville [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Financing method obligation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Financing method obligation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Construction loan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Construction loan [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Treasury Rate [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured lines of credit [Member] CreditLines	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured lines of credit [Member] Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Line of Credit, Facilities A and B [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Line of Credit 1 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Line of Credit, First Tennessee [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Line of Credit 2 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Term Loan 1 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Unsecured Term Loan 2 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Pearland Town Center [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of unsecured term loans										2																																		4																			3
Property loan obligation guaranteed by Company (percent)									100.00%
Long-term debt, percentage bearing fixed interest, amount																																														$ 3,887,298,000	$ 3,990,774,000			$ 3,441,803,000	$ 3,527,830,000	$ 445,495,000	$ 445,374,000	$ 0	$ 17,570,000
Mortgage and other indebtedness amount carrying value																																													50,640,000	912,519,000	866,749,000	381,212,000	228,754,000	11,306,000	133,712,000					50,640,000	51,300,000	19,361,000	2,983,000	450,000,000	450,000,000		381,212,000			222,829,000	34,000,000	124,383,000
Long-term Debt	4,794,750,000																																													4,799,817,000	4,857,523,000																						400,000,000
Weighted Average Interest Rate (in hundredths)	4.77%	4.88%																5.51%	5.52%	5.54%	5.54%	5.25%	5.25%			0.00%	8.00%			1.66%	1.91%	1.55%	1.57%	1.95%	3.14%	1.87%	1.87%	2.16%	2.17%	1.70%	1.71%																												2.05%
Unamortized debt discount					4,626,000																							4,505,000	4,626,000
Debt instrument, face amount					450,000,000																																																																400,000,000	50,000,000
Debt instrument, increase in variable interest rate																								1.00%	0.25%
Notice required to redeem debt, term						30 days
Debt instrument, redemption price, percentage						100.00%
Strike rate																																																														0.40%
Underwriting and other offering expenses					4,152,000
Proceeds from issuance of senior long-term debt					441,222,000
Acquisition of noncontrolling interest (percent)																																																																							12.00%
Line of credit, available capacity																																																																							17,948,000
Premium paid to acquire noncontrolling interest (percent)																																																																							8.00%
Loan agreement, basis spread on variable rate										1.40%		1.50%	1.90%																													1.00%	1.75%
Debt instrument, description of variable interest rate										LIBOR plus
Annual facility Fee (percent)																																											0.35%																					0.15%
Fees on amount of unused availability of secured lines of credit, minimum (in hundredths)																																																															0.30%
Total Capacity, line of credit																																																															1,300,000,000			600,000,000	100,000,000	600,000,000
Maturity Date, line of credit																																																																		Nov. 13, 2015	Feb. 05, 2016	Nov. 11, 2016
Extended Maturity Date, line of credit																																																																		Nov. 11, 2016		Nov. 10, 2017
Line of credit, extension fee (percent)			0.20%
Letter of credit, outstanding											1,775,000																																																									123,000
Additional secured and unsecured lines of credit with commitment																																																																	50,000,000
Debt instrument, term																																																																					5 years
Interest rate at period end																																																																					1.65%
Total debt to total assets														60.00%	60.00%	55.10%	51.20%
Unenbumbered asset value to unsecured indebtedness														150.00%	160.00%	224.70%	239.00%
Unencumbered NOI to unsecured interest expense															175.00%		458.00%
EBITDA to fixed charges (debt service)															150.00%		222.00%
Secured debt to total assets							45.00%	40.00%						45.00%		39.70%
Consolidated income available for debt service to annual debt service charge														150.00%		328.00%
Debt instrument, debt default threshold, minimum loan amount				$ 50,000,000					$ 150,000,000