Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Tenant receivables allowance for doubtful accounts		$ 2,034	$ 1,923
Other receivables allowance for doubtful accounts		$ 1,275	$ 1,276
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share)		$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Preferred stock, shares authorized		15,000,000	15,000,000
Variable interest entities, assets		$ 517,532
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)		$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, shares authorized		350,000,000	350,000,000
Common stock, shares issued		170,791,235	170,490,948
Common stock, shares outstanding		170,791,235	170,490,948
Assets	[1]	$ 6,383,928	$ 6,479,991
Liabilities	[1]	4,983,178	$ 5,055,062
Variable interest entities, liabilities		$ 435,213
Series D Preferred Stock
Preferred stock, dividend rate (as a percent)		7.375%	7.375%
Preferred stock, shares outstanding		1,815,000	1,815,000
Series E Preferred Stock
Preferred stock, dividend rate (as a percent)		6.625%	6.625%
Preferred stock, shares outstanding		690,000	690,000
CBL & Associates Limited Partnership
Tenant receivables allowance for doubtful accounts		$ 2,034	$ 1,923
Other receivables allowance for doubtful accounts		1,275	1,276
Variable interest entities, assets		517,532
Assets	[1]	6,384,289	6,480,430
Liabilities	[1]	4,982,903	$ 5,055,062
Variable interest entities, liabilities		$ 435,213

[1] As of March 31, 2016, include $517,532 of assets related to consolidated variable interest entities that can be used only to settle obligations of the consolidated variable interest entities and $435,213 of liabilities of consolidated variable interest entities for which creditors do not have recourse to the general credit of the Company. See Note 5.