Investment in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012 CP Venture IV Holdings LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 CP Venture IV Holdings LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 CP Venture IV Holdings LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Charlotte Gateway Village, LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Charlotte Gateway Village, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Charlotte Gateway Village, LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Palisades West LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Palisades West LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Palisades West LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 CF Murfreesboro Associates [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 CF Murfreesboro Associates [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 CF Murfreesboro Associates [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 CP Venture LLC entities [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 CP Venture LLC entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 CP Venture LLC entities [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 MSREF/Cousins Terminus 200 LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 MSREF/Cousins Terminus 200 LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 MSREF/Cousins Terminus 200 LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Cousins Watkins LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Cousins Watkins LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cousins Watkins LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 EP I LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 EP I LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 EP I LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Crawford Long - CPI, LLC [Member]		Mar. 31, 2011 Crawford Long - CPI, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Crawford Long - CPI, LLC [Member]		Mar. 31, 2012 Ten Peachtree Place Associates [Member]		Mar. 31, 2011 Ten Peachtree Place Associates [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Ten Peachtree Place Associates [Member]		Mar. 31, 2012 Wildwood Associates [Member]		Mar. 31, 2011 Wildwood Associates [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Wildwood Associates [Member]		Mar. 31, 2012 Temco Associates, LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Temco Associates, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Temco Associates, LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 CL Realty, L.L.C. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 CL Realty, L.L.C. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 CL Realty, L.L.C. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 TRG Columbus Development Venture, Ltd. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 TRG Columbus Development Venture, Ltd. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 TRG Columbus Development Venture, Ltd. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Terminus 200 LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Terminus 200 LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Pine Mountain Builders, LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Pine Mountain Builders, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Pine Mountain Builders, LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 CL Realty and Temco Associates [Member]
SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL POSITION:
Total Assets	$ 1,090,351,000		$ 1,130,788,000	$ 298,398,000		$ 301,352,000	$ 145,642,000		$ 146,854,000	$ 125,638,000		$ 124,588,000	$ 123,897,000		$ 125,668,000	$ 102,165,000		$ 102,178,000	$ 97,828,000		$ 92,421,000	$ 55,697,000		$ 56,096,000	$ 44,743,000		$ 33,343,000	$ 31,659,000			$ 32,739,000		$ 23,917,000			$ 22,523,000		$ 21,224,000			$ 21,224,000		$ 8,540,000		$ 23,653,000	$ 7,497,000		$ 44,481,000	$ 2,450,000		$ 2,450,000	$ 789,000	$ 789,000	$ 267,000		$ 429,000
Total Debt	397,843,000		392,850,000	35,880,000		36,031,000	79,472,000		83,097,000	0		0	97,931,000		98,922,000	0		0	74,631,000		68,562,000	28,492,000		28,571,000	5,438,000		1,000	47,261,000			47,631,000		25,988,000			26,192,000		0			0		2,750,000		2,787,000	0		1,056,000	0		0	0	0	0		0
Total Equity	621,526,000		666,004,000	253,110,000		255,881,000	64,456,000		62,423,000	83,132,000		81,635,000	24,781,000		24,810,000	99,385,000		99,942,000	19,628,000		17,967,000	26,516,000		26,893,000	33,123,000		29,137,000	(16,968,000)			(16,137,000)		(2,419,000)			(4,145,000)		21,185,000			21,221,000		5,567,000		20,646,000	7,289,000		42,932,000	1,860,000		1,857,000	789,000	789,000	92,000		153,000
Company's Investment	129,415,000		148,396,000	14,452,000		14,694,000	10,324,000		10,333,000	43,348,000		42,616,000	14,359,000		14,421,000	3,284,000		3,343,000	3,925,000		3,593,000	16,517,000		16,321,000	27,978,000		24,827,000	(7,294,000)	[1]		(6,873,000)	[1]	(2,813,000)	[1]		(3,679,000)	[1]	(1,658,000)	[1]		(1,639,000)	[1]	2,772,000		7,363,000	3,644,000		22,413,000	30,000		31,000	0	0	547,000		632,000
SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS:
Total Revenues	38,777,000	37,872,000		7,533,000	7,727,000		8,016,000	8,045,000		4,106,000	4,030,000		3,327,000	3,428,000		4,814,000	4,826,000		2,973,000	938,000		1,235,000	1,213,000		0	0		2,944,000		2,937,000			1,713,000		1,931,000			0		0			440,000	59,000		1,667,000	1,662,000		9,000	12,000				0	1,064,000
Net Income (Loss)	8,363,000	7,168,000		749,000	905,000		2,336,000	2,118,000		1,497,000	1,456,000		(28,000)	113,000		2,594,000	2,504,000		(362,000)	(1,159,000)		45,000	21,000		71,000	0		669,000		544,000			392,000		300,000			(37,000)		(47,000)			(57,000)	(204,000)		551,000	657,000		3,000	0				(60,000)	(40,000)
Company's Share of Income (Loss)	2,186,000	2,496,000		241,000	263,000		294,000	294,000		717,000	711,000		(81,000)	(5,000)		268,000	259,000		(73,000)	(232,000)		610,000	594,000		53,000	0		334,000		272,000			199,000		154,000			(18,000)		(24,000)			(233,000)	(103,000)		(39,000)	313,000		(1,000)	17,000				(85,000)	(17,000)
Number of Residential Development Projects and Related Residential Land Sold																																																									18
Company's Share of Proceeds from property sale																																																									$ 23,500,000

[1] Negative balances are included in Deposits and Deferred Income on the Balance Sheets.