Employee Benefit and Incentive Plans (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)			9 Months Ended									3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 2011 Plan	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted Class A Common Stock Plans		Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted Class A Common Stock Plans	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Class A Common Stock Plans	Dec. 31, 2010 Restricted Class A Common Stock Plans	Sep. 30, 2012 2007 Plan	Sep. 30, 2012 Chief Executive Officer	Sep. 30, 2012 Chief Financial Officer	Sep. 30, 2012 Chief Credit Officer	Mar. 31, 2011 Named Executive Officers March 2011 Restructuring 2007 Plan	Mar. 31, 2011 Other Officers and Employees March 2011 Restructuring 2007 Plan	Sep. 30, 2012 CT Opportunity Partners I, LP	Jan. 31, 2011 CT Opportunity Partners I, LP	Sep. 30, 2012 CT Legacy REIT	Sep. 30, 2012 CT Legacy REIT March 2011 Restructuring
Maximum number of shares may be issued		1,000,000
Retsricted stock granted												300,000	100,000
2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan, shares available		615,000
Unamortized value of unvested share-based compensations shares			$ 686,000
Unvested share-based compensation, shares	1,213,051	384,711	536,536	[1]	244,424	244,424	32,785	759,796
Vesting rights			Subject to vesting conditions and the continued employment of certain employees, $465,000 of these costs will be recognized as compensation expense during the fourth quarter of 2012 and the remainder will be recognized over the next two years.
Compensation expense during the fourth quarter of 2012 and over the next two years			465,000
Grant date fair value of restricted shares that vested			$ 184,000		$ 231,000
Percentage of incentive management fee pool for employees															45.00%
Percentage of granted incentive compensation to employees														92.50%		83.50%
Percentage of grants vesting schedule																90.00%
Percentage of grants vesting upon receipt of dividends																10.00%
Description of incentive management fee grants to employees vesting schedule														(i) one-third vests on the date of grant, (ii) one-third on September 13, 2012, and (iii) the remainder vests upon our receipt of incentive management fees from CTOPI		(i) 25% vests on the date of grant, (ii) 25% vests in March 2013, (iii) 25% vests in March 2014, and (iv) the remainder vests upon our receipt of dividends from CT Legacy REIT. The remaining 10% of these grants vest upon our receipt of dividends from CT Legacy REIT
Percentage of the dividends paid to common equity holders created employee pool																	6.75%
Contigent awards, restricted stock									125,000	100,000	50,000

[1] Includes (i) 275,000 performance based awards that contingently vest upon the attainment of certain specified performance measures, and (ii) 250,000 time based awards that vest based upon an employee's continued employment on pre-established vesting dates.