Organization and Basis of Presentation and Consolidation	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization and Basis of Presentation and Consolidation	Organization and Basis of Presentation and Consolidation Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (the “Trust” or “REIT”) is a Maryland corporation formed on June 23, 2011. The Trust serves as the general partner of Wheeler REIT, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”) which was formed as a Virginia limited partnership on April 5, 2012. As of December 31, 2019, the Trust, through the Operating Partnership, owned and operated sixty-one centers, one office and six undeveloped properties. Thirteen of these properties are located in Virginia, three are located in Florida, seven are located in North Carolina, twenty-four are located in South Carolina, twelve are located in Georgia, two are located in Kentucky, two are located in Tennessee, one is located in New Jersey, one is located in Alabama, one is located in West Virginia, one is located in Oklahoma and one is located in Pennsylvania. The Company’s portfolio had total net rentable space of approximately 5,619,000 square feet and a leased level of approximately 89.8% at December 31, 2019. Accordingly, the use of the word “Company” refers to the Trust and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where the context otherwise requires. The Company includes the Trust, the Operating Partnership, the entities included in the REIT formation and the entities acquired since November 2012. The Company prepared the accompanying consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP. All material balances and transactions between the consolidated entities of the Company have been eliminated. The Company owns, leases and operates income producing strip centers, neighborhood, grocery-anchored, community centers and free-standing retail properties with a strategy to acquire high quality retail properties that generate attractive risk-adjusted returns. The Company targeted competitively protected properties in communities that have stable demographics and have historically exhibited favorable trends, such as strong population and income growth. The Company considers competitively protected properties to be located in the most prominent shopping districts in their respective markets, ideally situated at major “Main and Main” intersections. The Company generally leases its properties to national and regional supermarket chains and selects retailers that offer necessity and value oriented items and generate regular consumer traffic. The Company’s tenants carry goods that are less impacted by fluctuations in the broader U.S. economy and consumers’ disposable income, which it believes generates more predictable property-level cash flows. On October 24, 2014, the Trust, through the Operating Partnership, acquired (i) Wheeler Interests, LLC (“WI”), an acquisition and asset management firm, (ii) Wheeler Real Estate, LLC (“WRE”), a real estate leasing, management and administration firm and (iii) WHLR Management, LLC (“WM” and collectively with WI and WRE the “Operating Companies”), a real estate business operations firm, from Jon S. Wheeler, the Company's then Chairman and CEO, resulting in the Company becoming an internally-managed REIT. Accordingly, the responsibility for identifying targeted real estate investments, the handling of the disposition of real estate investments, administering our day-to-day business operations, including but not limited to, leasing, property management, payroll and accounting functions, acquisitions, asset management and administration are now handled internally. The Operating Companies perform property management and leasing functions for certain related and non-related third parties (the “Non-REIT Properties”), primarily through WRE. The Company converted WRE to a Taxable REIT Subsidiary (“TRS”) to accommodate serving the Non-REIT Properties since applicable REIT regulations consider the income derived from these services to be “bad” income subject to taxation. The regulations allow for costs incurred by the Company commensurate with the services performed for the Non-REIT Properties to be allocated to a TRS. During January 2014, the Company acquired Wheeler Development, LLC (“WD”) and converted it to a TRS. The Company began performing development activities for both REIT Properties and Non-REIT Properties during 2015.

Organization and Basis of Presentation and Consolidation

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (the “Trust” or “REIT”) is a Maryland corporation formed on June 23, 2011. The Trust serves as the general partner of Wheeler REIT, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”) which was formed as a Virginia limited partnership on April 5, 2012. As of December 31, 2019, the Trust, through the Operating Partnership, owned and operated sixty-one centers, one office and six undeveloped properties. Thirteen of these properties are located in Virginia, three are located in Florida, seven are located in North Carolina, twenty-four are located in South Carolina, twelve are located in Georgia, two are located in Kentucky, two are located in Tennessee, one is located in New Jersey, one is located in Alabama, one is located in West Virginia, one is located in Oklahoma and one is located in Pennsylvania. The Company’s portfolio had total net rentable space of approximately 5,619,000 square feet and a leased level of approximately 89.8% at December 31, 2019. Accordingly, the use of the word “Company” refers to the Trust and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where the context otherwise requires. The Company includes the Trust, the Operating Partnership, the entities included in the REIT formation and the entities acquired since November 2012. The Company prepared the accompanying consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP. All material balances and transactions between the consolidated entities of the Company have been eliminated.

The Company owns, leases and operates income producing strip centers, neighborhood, grocery-anchored, community centers and free-standing retail properties with a strategy to acquire high quality retail properties that generate attractive risk-adjusted returns. The Company targeted competitively protected properties in communities that have stable demographics and have historically exhibited favorable trends, such as strong population and income growth. The Company considers competitively protected properties to be located in the most prominent shopping districts in their respective markets, ideally situated at major “Main and Main” intersections. The Company generally leases its properties to national and regional supermarket chains and selects retailers that offer necessity and value oriented items and generate regular consumer traffic. The Company’s tenants carry goods that are less impacted by fluctuations in the broader U.S. economy and consumers’ disposable income, which it believes generates more predictable property-level cash flows.

On October 24, 2014, the Trust, through the Operating Partnership, acquired (i) Wheeler Interests, LLC (“WI”), an acquisition and asset management firm, (ii) Wheeler Real Estate, LLC (“WRE”), a real estate leasing, management and administration firm and (iii) WHLR Management, LLC (“WM” and collectively with WI and WRE the “Operating Companies”), a real estate business operations firm, from Jon S. Wheeler, the Company's then Chairman and CEO, resulting in the Company becoming an internally-managed REIT. Accordingly, the responsibility for identifying targeted real estate investments, the handling of the disposition of real estate investments, administering our day-to-day business operations, including but not limited to, leasing, property management, payroll and accounting functions, acquisitions, asset management and administration are now handled internally.

The Operating Companies perform property management and leasing functions for certain related and non-related third parties (the “Non-REIT Properties”), primarily through WRE. The Company converted WRE to a Taxable REIT Subsidiary (“TRS”) to accommodate serving the Non-REIT Properties since applicable REIT regulations consider the income derived from these services to be “bad” income subject to taxation. The regulations allow for costs incurred by the Company commensurate with the services performed for the Non-REIT Properties to be allocated to a TRS.

During January 2014, the Company acquired Wheeler Development, LLC (“WD”) and converted it to a TRS. The Company began performing development activities for both REIT Properties and Non-REIT Properties during 2015.