Equity Investments in the Managed Programs and Real Estate - Summary of Investments in Managed Programs (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Investments in Programs
Equity investments in real estate	$ 327,598	$ 298,893
CPA: 17 - Global
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	3.996%	3.456%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 120,464	$ 99,584
CPA:17 - Global operating partnership
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	0.009%	0.009%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 0	$ 0
CPA:18 - Global
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	2.298%	1.616%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 25,812	$ 17,955
CPA:18 - Global operating partnership
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	0.034%	0.034%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 209	$ 209
CWI
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	1.882%	1.109%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 23,351	$ 11,449
CWI operating partnership
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	0.015%	0.015%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 186	$ 0
CWI 2
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	1.541%	0.773%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 14,171	$ 5,091
CWI 2 operating partnership
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	0.015%	0.015%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 300	$ 300
CCIF
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	0.00%	13.322%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 0	$ 23,528
CESH I
Investments in Programs
Equity method investment, ownership percentage	2.43%	2.431%
Equity investments in real estate	$ 3,110	$ 2,701
Managed Programs
Investments in Programs
Equity investments in real estate	$ 187,603	$ 160,817