CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenue:
Rental and other income	$ 1,846,081	$ 1,674,011	$ 1,451,419
Management, development and other fees	9,947	11,050	11,502
Total revenue	1,856,028	1,685,061	1,462,921
Expenses:
Operating expenses, excluding property taxes	448,747	410,672	352,245
Property taxes	193,499	178,634	158,774
Interest expense, net	175,615	180,618	172,402
(Gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, net	(26,736)	412	14,921
Loss on interest rate contract	0	0	51,000
Depreciation expense	477,923	442,682	560,215
General and administrative expense	42,396	41,425	39,573
Expensed acquisition, development and other pursuit costs, net of recoveries	6,822	(3,717)	45,050
Casualty (gain) loss and impairment loss, net	(10,542)	0	0
Total expenses	1,307,724	1,250,726	1,394,180
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated entities	70,018	148,766	(11,154)
Gain on sale of real estate	9,647	490	240
Gain on sale of communities	115,625	84,925	0
Income from continuing operations before taxes	743,594	668,516	57,827
Income tax expense	1,861	9,368	0
Income from continuing operations	741,733	659,148	57,827
Discontinued operations:
Income from discontinued operations	0	310	16,713
Gain on sale of discontinued operations	0	37,869	278,231
Total discontinued operations	0	38,179	294,944
Net income	741,733	697,327	352,771
Net loss (income) attributable to noncontrolling interests	305	(13,760)	370
Net income attributable to common stockholders	742,038	683,567	353,141
Other comprehensive income:
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges	5,354	(121)	0
Cash flow hedge losses reclassified to earnings	5,774	6,237	59,376
Comprehensive income	$ 753,166	$ 689,683	$ 412,517
Earnings per common share—basic:
Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 5.54	$ 4.93	$ 0.46
Discontinued operations attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.29	2.32
Net income attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	5.54	5.22	2.78
Earnings per common share—diluted:
Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	5.51	4.92	0.46
Discontinued operations attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.29	2.32
Net income attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 5.51	$ 5.21	$ 2.78