Real Estate Investments (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 27, 2013 property
Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed
Acquisition related expenses	$ 38,831,000		$ 76,113,000	$ 45,070,000
Merger and other non-routine transactions	200,514,000		210,543,000	2,603,000
Future Minimum Operating Lease Base Rent Payments
2015	1,245,051,000
2016	1,239,590,000
2017	1,207,816,000
2018	1,171,135,000
2019	1,130,291,000
Thereafter	10,050,096,000
Total	16,043,979,000
Future Minimum Direct Financing Lease Payments
2015	4,757,000	[1]
2016	4,674,000	[1]
2017	4,273,000	[1]
2018	3,183,000	[1]
2019	2,397,000	[1]
Thereafter	7,915,000	[1]
Total	27,199,000	[1]
Investment in Direct Financing Leases, Net
Future minimum lease payments receivable	27,199,000		33,729,000
Unguaranteed residual value of property	39,852,000		46,172,000
Unearned income	(10,975,000)		(13,789,000)
Investment in direct financing leases, net	56,076,000		66,112,000
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] | Lease Revenue [Member]
Development Activities
Concentration risk, number (in number of tenants)	0
Concentration risk, percentage			10.00%
Customer Concentration Risk [Member] | Lease Revenue [Member] | Red Lobster [Member]
Development Activities
Concentration risk, percentage	11.60%
Geographic Concentration Risk [Member] | Lease Revenue [Member] | Texas
Development Activities
Concentration risk, percentage	12.70%		10.70%
Acquisitions, 2014, Excluding Cole Merger, ARCT IV Merger And CCPT Merger [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of properties acquired	1,107		1,739
Number of land parcels acquired	31
Purchase price	3,800,000,000		3,500,000,000
Acquisitions, 2014, Including Cole Merger, ARCT IV Merger and CCPT Merger [Member]
Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed
Acquisition related expenses	38,800,000		76,100,000
Merger and other non-routine transactions	200,500,000		210,500,000
Pro Forma Information
Pro forma revenues	1,853,014,000		1,585,511,000
Pro forma net income (loss) attributable to stockholders	(606,549,000)		(478,093,000)
2014 Acquisitions [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of properties acquired	1,107
Number of land parcels acquired	31
Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed
Land	808,930,000		883,491,000
Buildings, fixtures and improvements	2,505,409,000		2,311,211,000
Total tangible assets	3,314,339,000		3,194,702,000
In-place leases	545,389,000		334,839,000
Above-market leases	112,484,000		12,317,000
Below-market leases	(107,185,000)		(21,446,000)
Fair value adjustment of assumed notes payable	(23,589,000)		0
Total purchase price of assets acquired, net	3,841,438,000
Notes payable assumed	(301,532,000)		0
Cash paid for acquired real estate investments	3,539,906,000		3,520,412,000
Development Activities
Estimated cost to complete construction	18,400,000
Land	12,400,000
Number of development projects completed	11
GE Capital Portfolio [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of properties acquired					447
Purchase price					$ 773,900,000
Future Minimum Direct Financing Lease Payments
Capital leased assets, number of units					40
2013 Acquisitions [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of land parcels acquired	1

[1] 40 properties are subject to direct financing leases and, therefore, revenue is recognized as direct financing lease income on the discounted cash flows of the lease payments. Amounts reflected are the cash rent on these respective properties.