MORTGAGES, NOTES AND LOANS PAYABLE (Details 2) (USD $)			0 Months Ended						0 Months Ended					9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended															9 Months Ended								0 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended								9 Months Ended					0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended						0 Months Ended						9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended					0 Months Ended								9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Oct. 02, 2013 6.875% Senior Notes Due 2021	Sep. 30, 2014 6.875% Senior Notes Due 2021	Dec. 31, 2013 6.875% Senior Notes Due 2021	Sep. 30, 2014 Summerlin	Sep. 30, 2014 Columbia Regional Building	Sep. 30, 2014 One Hughes Landing	Aug. 06, 2014 Waterway Hotel item	Sep. 30, 2014 Other Corporate Financing Arrangements	Dec. 31, 2013 Other Corporate Financing Arrangements	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Bridgeland	Jun. 30, 2012 Master Planned Communities Bridgeland	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Bridgeland Minimum	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Bridgeland Land Loan	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Bridgeland Land Loan	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Bridgeland Development Loan	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S108	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S108	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S124	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S124	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S128	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S128	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S128C	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S128C	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S132	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S132	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S151	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Summerlin South S151	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities Summerlin West S808/810	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities Summerlin West S808/810	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities The Woodlands TWL Facility item	Dec. 31, 2013 Master Planned Communities The Woodlands TWL Facility	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities The Woodlands Term loan	Sep. 30, 2014 Master Planned Communities The Woodlands Revolving credit line	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Capital lease obligations	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets Capital lease obligations	Jun. 27, 2014 Operating Assets 70 Columbia Corporate Center NEW item	Apr. 15, 2014 Operating Assets 70 Columbia Corporate Center NEW	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets 70 Columbia Corporate Center NEW	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets 70 Columbia Corporate Center NEW	Aug. 15, 2012 Operating Assets 70 Columbia Corporate Center NEW	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Columbia Regional Building item	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets Columbia Regional Building	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets One Hughes Landing item	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets One Hughes Landing	Nov. 14, 2012 Operating Assets One Hughes Landing item sqft	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets 1701 Lake Robbins	Jul. 18, 2014 Operating Assets 1701 Lake Robbins	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Millennium Waterway Apartments	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets Millennium Waterway Apartments	May 31, 2012 Operating Assets Millennium Waterway Apartments	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets 110 N. Wacker	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets 110 N. Wacker	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets 9303 New Trails	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets 9303 New Trails	Dec. 05, 2011 Operating Assets 9303 New Trails	Oct. 24, 2013 Operating Assets Outlet Collection at Riverwalk item	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Outlet Collection at Riverwalk	Feb. 08, 2013 Operating Assets The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center item acre	Mar. 31, 2015 Operating Assets The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center item	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets 20/25 Waterway Avenue	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets 20/25 Waterway Avenue	Apr. 26, 2012 Operating Assets 20/25 Waterway Avenue	Aug. 02, 2013 Operating Assets 3 Waterway Square item sqft	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets 3 Waterway Square	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets 3 Waterway Square	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets 4 Waterway Square	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets 4 Waterway Square	Dec. 05, 2011 Operating Assets 4 Waterway Square	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Ward Village	Dec. 31, 2013 Operating Assets Ward Village	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Ward Village Minimum	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Ward Village Maximum	Sep. 30, 2014 Operating Assets Two Hughes Landing	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments	Dec. 31, 2013 Strategic Developments	Jul. 15, 2014 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin item	Nov. 01, 2014 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin	Jul. 15, 2014 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin Maximum	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin S108	Dec. 31, 2013 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin S108	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin S128	Dec. 31, 2013 Strategic Developments Downtown Summerlin S128	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments ExxonMobil item	Sep. 11, 2013 Strategic Developments Two Hughes Landing item acre sqft	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments Two Hughes Landing item	Dec. 20, 2013 Strategic Developments Hughes Landing Retail sqft item	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments Hughes Landing Retail	Dec. 31, 2013 Strategic Developments Hughes Landing Retail	Nov. 25, 2013 Strategic Developments One Lake's Edge item sqft acre	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments One Lake's Edge	Sep. 30, 2014 Strategic Developments Waterway Hotel	Nov. 06, 2014 Strategic Developments Waiea and Anaha item	Oct. 31, 2014 Strategic Developments Hughes Landing Hotel	Oct. 03, 2014 Strategic Developments Hughes Landing Hotel item
Mortgages, notes and loans payable
Interest rate (as a percent)				6.88%						3.00%							5.50%		5.00%	5.95%		5.95%		7.30%		6.05%		6.00%		6.00%		7.13%		2.90%						3.60%				2.40%			2.15%		2.80%			5.81%		3.75%			5.21%		4.88%				2.90%		3.65%			4.79%			3.94%	3.94%		4.88%			3.34%				2.80%					2.40%		5.95%		6.05%		2.05%		2.05%		2.10%			2.65%	2.80%
Facility Amount							$ 23,000,000	$ 38,000,000	$ 69,300,000	$ 22,700,000									$ 140,000,000															$ 250,000,000		$ 125,000,000	$ 125,000,000							$ 20,000,000			$ 23,008,000		$ 38,000,000														$ 64,400,000		$ 95,000,000												$ 250,000,000				$ 41,230,000			$ 311,800,000		$ 311,800,000						$ 143,000,000				$ 36,575,000			$ 73,525,000	$ 69,300,000	$ 600,000,000		$ 37,100,000
Maximum outstanding balance																			30,000,000
Total mortgages, notes and loans payable	1,880,916,000	1,514,623,000		750,000,000	750,000,000					20,434,000	21,309,000	237,397,000	223,808,000		18,100,000		15,874,000	18,066,000	24,200,000	694,000	823,000	256,000	285,000	665,000	707,000	5,392,000	5,511,000	3,232,000	3,962,000	6,421,000	6,623,000	4,000,000	11,168,000	176,663,000	176,663,000			648,211,000	523,312,000	156,000	205,000			20,000,000	16,287,000		18,960,000	9,207,000	34,417,000	19,128,000		4,600,000		55,584,000	55,584,000	55,600,000	29,000,000	29,000,000	13,157,000	13,398,000			44,703,000		66,177,000		36,100,000	14,383,000	14,450,000		52,000,000	52,000,000	52,000,000	38,530,000	39,237,000		238,176,000	238,716,000			17,858,000	232,853,000	4,934,000			172,913,000		388,000	452,000	3,506,000	3,569,000	23,702,000				14,259,000	913,000		18,085,000
Unamortized underwriting fees	(7,979,000)	(8,750,000)
Corporate recourse guarantee amount										20,400,000																																															7,000,000						64,400,000
Variable rate basis									one-month LIBOR								three-month LIBOR		one-month LIBOR															one-month LIBOR								one-month LIBOR		one-month LIBOR													one-month LIBOR					one-month LIBOR			one-month LIBOR												one-month LIBOR							one-month LIBOR								one-month LIBOR		one-month LIBOR	one-month LIBOR			one-month LIBOR			one-month LIBOR		one-month LIBOR
Variable rate basis below specified limit																																															prime rate
Variable rate basis above specified limit																																															one-month LIBOR		one-month LIBOR
Interest rate margin (as a percent)									2.65%								2.75%		3.25%															2.75%								2.25%							2.65%													2.75%			3.50%												2.50%							2.25%								1.90%		2.65%	1.95%			2.50%			6.75%		2.50%
Number of rooms									302
Recourse on loan (as a percent)						35.00%																																																									50.00%																								35.00%
Interest rate margin above specified limit (as a percent)																																															2.00%
Outstanding principal balance of debt that is swapped to fixed rate through maturity	172,000,000																																																								29,000,000																				143,000,000
Fixed interest rate per swap (as a percent)																																																									5.21%																				3.80%
Term of debt instrument														10 years					3 years															3 years
Fixed interest rate (as a percent)			6.875%														5.50%																																				5.81%			3.75%														4.79%
Minimum interest rate (as a percent)																			5.00%
Amount utilized																			83,900,000
Annual principal payments as a percentage of outstanding principal balance																	5.00%
Number of stories of building to be constructed with loan proceeds																																																			8																				11																						8					8
Area of office building to be constructed using proceeds from loan																																																			197,000																				232,000																						197,000
Weighted average interest rate (as a percent)	4.73%	5.25%
Land, buildings and equipment and developments in progress pledged as collateral	2,500,000,000
Extension period at borrower's option																																		1 year													1 year																		1 year
Undrawn borrowing capacity																																		73,300,000
Available borrowing capacity																																		47,100,000
Amount of a non-recourse construction financing which repaid existing debt																																																																95,000,000
Number of extension options									1																									2								2					2		2													2			3																			2										2	2			2			2		2
Option to extend, term									1 year																																	1 year							1 year													1 year																						1 year								1 year		1 year	1 year			1 year			1 year	1 year
Debt service coverage ratio																																																																																				1.25
Occupancy percentage																																																																																				90.00%	50.70%
Amount of refinanced construction loan																																																																							43,300,000
Decrease in exposure of outstanding principal (as a percent)																																																															25.00%																					10.00%
Number of office buildings substantially pre-leased																																																																																												2
Number of rooms in property securing debt (in rooms)																																																																	624
Number of original rooms																																																																	440
Number of newly built rooms																																																																	184
Loan to value ratio to draw additional loan proceeds (as a percent)																																																																																65.00%
Percentage of debt yield to draw additional loan proceeds																																																															11.00%																10.00%
Unused portion of the debt instrument																																																																													11,300,000
Cash balance required to be maintained																3,000,000
Net worth required to be maintained																250,000,000
Period of real estate taxes and debt service required to be escrowed with the lender														1 year
Amount to which debt will amortize ratably through maturity following an interest-only period																																																									12,000,000
Area of site (in acres)																																																																	40																												66					2.92
Maximum facility amount at first extension option																																		220,000,000
Maximum facility amount at second extension option																																		185,000,000
Number of spaces in parking garage																																																																																													630					750
Amount of debt issued			750,000,000			311,800,000																																				20,000,000				16,000,000							4,600,000								14,000,000									14,500,000						41,000,000
Period for which interest rate is fixed														5 years
Period for which interest rate is floating														5 years
Area of real estate property to be constructed (in square feet)																																																																																															123,000			22,289
Number of multi-family units to be constructed																																																																																																		390
Area of real estate property (in square foot)																																																																																																		984
Maximum percentage of Notes that can be redeemed using proceeds from equity offerings at any time prior to October 1, 2016			35.00%
Percentage of principal amount at which Notes can be redeemed			106.875%
Net proceeds			741,300,000
Cash paid in full satisfaction of loan assumed as part of the acquisition																																											17,000,000
Percentage of appreciation in the market value of building																																											30.00%
Percentage of cumulative preferred return on the property																																											10.00%
Amount of participation right																																											$ 700,000
Beginning balance of room																																																																		406
Number of rooms demolished																																																																		218