Shareholders' Equity - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($)												3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jul. 29, 2016	Jun. 15, 2016	May 23, 2016	May 12, 2016	Apr. 29, 2016	Apr. 22, 2016	Mar. 14, 2016	Feb. 23, 2016	Feb. 22, 2016	Feb. 12, 2016	Sep. 17, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Jun. 13, 2014	Nov. 21, 2012
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividend declared		$ 0.09					$ 0.09
Common stock, dividend paid					$ 8,200,000										$ 16,761,000
Annual incentive compensation plan description															On March 31, 2015, the compensation committee adopted a 2015 Long Term Incentive Plan, or the LTIP, and made awards, or the 2015 awards, to the eligible officers setting forth the basis on which the eligible officers could earn equity compensation for the years 2015 through 2018. Pursuant to the LTIP, each eligible officer was granted an initial long term equity award, consisting of both a performance share unit award for a three year performance period and an annual restricted share award vesting over a four year period. See note 13 to the consolidated financial statements in the 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details regarding these awards. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, we recorded $122 and $244, respectively, of compensation expense related to the LTIP.
Compensation expense												$ 7,922,000		$ 6,568,000	$ 14,997,000	$ 12,676,000
Common shares pursuant to the DRSPP															4,658
Net proceeds received															$ 13,000
Common shares remaining available under the DRSPP												7,757,064			7,757,064
IROP | Trade Street Residential, Inc
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock issued in connection with merger											1,925,419
Jones Trading Institutional Services LLC
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common shares, shares issued															0
Common shares remaining available for issuance															7,918,919
Jones Trading Institutional Services LLC | Maximum
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common shares to be issued and sold																			10,000,000
IRT
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares awarded, share				18,000
Number of shares awarded, value				$ 137,000
Closing stock price				$ 7.60
Shares outstanding												7,269,719			7,269,719		7,269,719
Ownership percentage												15.40%			15.40%		15.50%
IRT | Trade Street Residential, Inc
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock issued in connection with merger											15,110,994
Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan Ltip
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Compensation expense												$ 122,000			$ 244,000
LTIP | Performance Based Long Term Incentive Plan
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Compensation awarded, Percentage of awards															75.00%
LTIP | Time Based Long Term Incentive Plan
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Vesting period															4 years
Compensation awarded, Percentage of awards															25.00%
LTIP | Peer Group of Public Companies Over The Same Period
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Equity award target percentage															40.00%
LTIP | TSR for the NAREIT Mortgage Index
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Equity award target percentage															30.00%
LTIP | Absolute TSR
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Equity award target percentage															30.00%
Non-management trustees
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares awarded, share								168,776
Number of shares awarded, value								$ 400,000
Closing stock price								$ 2.37
Vesting period								3 years
President | 2012 Incentive Award Plan
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares awarded, share			161,290
Number of shares awarded, value			$ 500,000
Closing stock price			$ 3.10
Vesting percentage			25.00%
President | 2012 Incentive Award Plan | Share-based Compensation Award, Tranche One
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Vesting percentage			25.00%
President | 2012 Incentive Award Plan | Share-based Compensation Award, Tranche Two
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Vesting percentage			25.00%
President | 2012 Incentive Award Plan | Share-based Compensation Award, Tranche Three
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Vesting percentage			25.00%
Subsequent Event
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividend paid	$ 8,202,000
Restricted Stock
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividend paid													$ 348,000
Vesting period						4 years
Restricted Stock | IRT
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares awarded, share										210,000
Number of shares awarded, value										$ 1,306,000
Closing stock price										$ 6.22
Vesting period										3 years
Restricted Stock | Non Executive Officer
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares awarded, share									367,000
Number of shares awarded, value									$ 873,000
Closing stock price									$ 2.38
Vesting period									3 years
Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) | Non Executive Officer
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares awarded, share									895,000
Number of shares awarded, value									$ 206,000
Vesting period									3 years
Expiration date									Feb. 22, 2021
Performance Shares
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Performance period						3 years
Performance period earliest date						Jan. 01, 2016
Performance period latest date						Dec. 31, 2018
Performance Shares | Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan Ltip
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Compensation expense												$ 120,000			$ 120,000
Performance Shares Component One | Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan Ltip
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Grant date fair value per share						$ 1.55
Performance Shares Component Two | Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan Ltip
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Grant date fair value per share						1.44
Performance Shares Component Three | Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan Ltip
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Grant date fair value per share						$ 1.07
Dividend Reinvestment And Share Purchase Plan
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Registered and reserved common shares												10,500,000			10,500,000
Weighted-average price per shares												$ 2.79			$ 2.79
Preferred Stock
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred shares aggregate amount to be issued and sold																		$ 150,000,000
Preferred Stock | 7.75% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred shares authorized to be issued under agreement																		4,000,000
Dividend payment date													Mar. 31, 2016		Jun. 30, 2016
Dividend record date													Mar. 01, 2016		Jun. 01, 2016
Preferred Stock | 8.375% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred shares authorized to be issued under agreement																		1,000,000
Dividend payment date													Mar. 31, 2016		Jun. 30, 2016
Dividend record date													Mar. 01, 2016		Jun. 01, 2016
Preferred Stock | 8.875% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred shares authorized to be issued under agreement																		1,000,000
Dividend payment date													Mar. 31, 2016		Jun. 30, 2016
Dividend record date													Mar. 01, 2016		Jun. 01, 2016
Preferred Stock | 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Aggregate of Series A,B,C Preferred Shares available for issuance												2,763,204			2,763,204
Preferred Stock | 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Aggregate of Series A,B,C Preferred Shares available for issuance												947,496			947,496
Preferred Stock | 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Aggregate of Series A,B,C Preferred Shares available for issuance												999,675			999,675
Common Shares
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Dividend payment date		Jul. 29, 2016					Apr. 29, 2016
Dividend record date		Jul. 08, 2016					Apr. 08, 2016
Common shares, shares issued															4,658