Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands, ft² in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) ft² a $ / shares shares	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) ft² a $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate properties (in sq feet) | ft²	32.0		32.0
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate properties under development (in sq feet) | ft²	1.2		1.2
Undeveloped land suitable for development (in acres) | a	400		400
Net proceeds of Common Stock sold during the period | $			$ 69,833	$ 104,472
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Common Units of partnership owned by the Company (in shares)	102,800,000		102,800,000
Percentage of ownership of Common Units (in hundredths)	97.30%		97.30%
Common Units redeemed for a like number of common shares of stock (in shares)			6,000
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member] | ATM Equity Offering [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Net proceeds of Common Stock sold during the period | $	$ 59,200		$ 68,300
Number of Common Stock sold during the period (in shares)	1,177,734		1,363,919
Average price of Common Stock sold during the period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 51.03		$ 50.85
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member] | ATM Equity Offering [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Net proceeds of Common Stock sold during the period | $		$ 300,000
Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Common Units of partnership not owned by the Company (in shares)	2,800,000		2,800,000