Consolidation and Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) ft² in Thousands, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) ft² Property apartmentunits States Communities shares	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
General Partners' Capital Account, Units Outstanding \| shares	75,505,025	75,345,023
Limited Liability Company (LLC) or Limited Partnership (LP), Managing Member or General Partner, Ownership Interest	94.80%	94.70%
Number of owned or owned interests of apartment communities \| Property	255
Number of apartments included in a community \| apartmentunits	79,896
Number of states in which apartment units are located \| States	15
Percentage Of Ownership Interests	100.00%
Maximum [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Percentage Of Ownership Interests	100.00%
Development Properties [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of owned or owned interests of apartment communities \| Communities	4
Number of units under development community \| Property	628
Development Properties [Member] \| Expected Costs [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Development and capital improvements in progress	$ 96.7
Development Properties [Member] \| Costs Incurred to Date [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Development and capital improvements in progress	$ 34.0
Retail
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of owned or owned interests of apartment communities \| Property	6
Square Footage of Real Estate Property \| ft²	194
Partially Owned Properties [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of owned or owned interests of apartment communities \| Property	1
Square Footage of Real Estate Property \| ft²	30
Building Repairs and Maintenance Expenses [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Prior Period Reclassification Adjustment		$ 0.9
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Prior Period Reclassification Adjustment	$ 34.0
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Member]
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Prior Period Reclassification Adjustment		$ 2.0

Property Held for Development

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Area of a real estate property.

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- Definition

Amount of structure or a modification to a structure under construction. Includes recently completed structures or modifications to structures that have not been placed into service.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

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The number of general partner units outstanding.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 5
-Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 4.F)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187171-122770

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB)
-Number Topic 4
-Section F

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Percentage investment held by the managing member or general partner of the limited liability company (LLC) or limited partnership (LP).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 272
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70478-108055

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- Definition

The number of real estate properties owned as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

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The number of units in a real estate property owned as of the balance sheet date.

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The amount of a reclassification adjustment made to prior period financial statement amounts.

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