Organization and Business

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization and Business

ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS

Wells Real Estate Fund VIII, L.P. (the "Partnership") is a Georgia public limited partnership with Leo F. Wells, III and Wells Partners, L.P. ("Wells Partners"), a Georgia nonpublic limited partnership, serving as its general partners (collectively, "General Partners"). Wells Capital, Inc. ("Wells Capital") serves as the corporate general partner of Wells Partners. Wells Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Real Estate Funds, Inc. ("WREF"). Leo F. Wells, III is the president and sole director of Wells Capital and the president, sole director, and sole owner of WREF. The Partnership was formed on August 15, 1994 for the purpose of acquiring, developing, owning, operating, improving, leasing, and otherwise managing income-producing commercial properties for investment purposes. Upon subscription, limited partners elected to have their units treated as Class A Units or Class B Units. Limited partners have the right to change their prior elections to have some or all of their units treated as Class A Units or Class B Units one time during each quarterly accounting period. Limited partners may vote to, among other things, (a) amend the partnership agreement, subject to certain limitations; (b) change the business purpose or investment objectives of the Partnership; (c) add or remove a general partner; (d) elect a new general partner; (e) dissolve the Partnership; (f) authorize a merger or a consolidation of the Partnership; and (g) approve a sale involving all or substantially all of the Partnership's assets, subject to certain limitations. A majority vote on any of the above-described matters will bind the Partnership, without the concurrence of the General Partners. Each limited partnership unit has equal voting rights regardless of class.

On January 6, 1995, the Partnership commenced a public offering of up to $35,000,000 of Class A or Class B limited partnership units ($10.00 per unit) pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-11 filed under the Securities Act. The offering was terminated on January 4, 1996, at which time the Partnership had sold approximately 2,613,534 Class A Units and 590,735 Class B Units representing total limited partner capital contributions of $32,042,689.

The Partnership owns indirect interests in all of its real estate assets through a joint venture with an entity affiliated with the General Partners. During the periods presented, the Partnership owned an interest in the following joint venture (the "Joint Venture") and properties:

Joint Venture	Joint Venture Partners	Ownership %	Properties
Fund VIII and Fund IX Associates ("Fund VIII-IX Associates" or the "Joint Venture")	• Wells Real Estate Fund VIII, L.P. • Wells Real Estate Fund IX, L.P.	54.8% 45.2%	1.  US Cellular Building(1) A four-story office building located in Madison, Wisconsin 2.  305 Interlocken Parkway A two-story office building located in Broomfield, Colorado

⁽¹⁾This property was sold on March 22, 2013.

Wells Real Estate Fund IX, L.P. is affiliated with the Partnership through common general partners. Each of the properties described above was acquired on an all-cash basis. For further information regarding the Joint Venture and foregoing properties, refer to the Partnership's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012.