Consolidated Statements Of Cash Flows (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$ 74,952,000	$ 79,072,000
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation	28,373,000	14,705,000
Amortization	1,816,000	226,000
Straight-line rental income	(12,692,000)	(4,408,000)
Write-off of debt issuance costs	2,145,000	353,000
Loan and realty losses	0	1,976,000
Gain on sale of real estate	0	(19,370,000)
Share-based compensation	1,796,000	2,086,000
Income from equity-method investee	(157,000)	(269,000)
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
Equity-method investment and other assets	4,000	(307,000)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	(493,000)	498,000
Deferred income	(2,529,000)	(149,000)
Net cash provided by operating activities	93,215,000	74,413,000
Cash flows from investing activities:
Investment in mortgage and other notes receivable	(1,439,000)	(9,713,000)
Collection of mortgage and other notes receivable	1,350,000	18,879,000
Investment in real estate	(35,688,000)	(134,074,000)
Investment in real estate development	(6,022,000)	(7,883,000)
Investment in renovations of existing real estate	(3,078,000)	(5,323,000)
Payment of real estate purchase liability	(1,600,000)	0
Proceeds from disposition of real estate properties	0	20,981,000
Net cash used in investing activities	(46,477,000)	(117,133,000)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Net change in borrowings under revolving credit facilities	(86,000,000)	127,000,000
Proceeds from convertible senior notes	200,000,000	0
Proceeds from Issuance of Secured Debt	38,007,000	0
Borrowings on term loan	130,000,000	80,000,000
Payments on term loans	(250,815,000)	(99,399,000)
Debt issuance costs	(8,899,000)	(1,275,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	0	(146,000)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	(1,589,000)	(818,000)
Dividends paid to stockholders	(75,195,000)	(64,656,000)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(54,491,000)	40,998,000
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(7,753,000)	(1,722,000)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	11,312,000	9,172,000
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	3,559,000	7,450,000
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Interest Paid	13,878,000	5,225,000
Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Settlement of mortgage note by real estate acquisition	0	13,741,000
Tax deferred exchange funds applied to investment in real estate	23,813,000	0
Conditional consideration in asset acquisition	3,000,000	1,600,000
Accounts payable related to investments in real estate	2,623,000	3,453,000
Assumption of debt in real estate acquisition	0	80,528,000
(Increase) decrease in fair value of cash flow hedge	(126,000)	1,531,000
Assignment of net assets in equity-method investee	$ 0	$ 817,000