Note 4 - Investments and Advances in Real Estate Joint Ventures (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended									1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended									9 Months Ended						9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended					9 Months Ended								9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Company Share [Member] Other Joint Venture Programs [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 KimPru and KimPru II [Member] Operating Properties [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 KimPru and KimPru II [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 KimPru and KimPru II [Member]		Sep. 30, 2013 KimPru [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Intown [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Intown [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Intown [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Intown [Member] Minimum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Intown [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Operating Properties [Member] Mexico Portfolio [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Operating Properties [Member] Chili [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Operating Properties [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Sold [Member] Additional [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Sold [Member] Mexico Portfolio [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Sold [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Sold [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member] Mexico Portfolio [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member]		Sep. 30, 2012 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Joint Venture Programs [Member]		Sep. 30, 2013 Kimco Income Fund [Member] Additional [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Kimco Income Fund [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Kimco Income Fund [Member]		Sep. 30, 2013 UBS Programs [Member] Operating Properties [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 UBS Programs [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 UBS Programs [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 UBS Programs [Member]		Sep. 30, 2013 Other Institutional Programs [Member] Operating Properties [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Institutional Programs [Member] Operating Properties [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Institutional Programs [Member] Sold [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Institutional Programs [Member] Pending Sale [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Institutional Programs [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Other Institutional Programs [Member]		Sep. 30, 2013 BIG Shopping Centers [Member] Company's Share [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 BIG Shopping Centers [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 BIG Shopping Centers [Member]		Sep. 30, 2013 Latin America [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Latin America [Member]		Sep. 30, 2013 KIR [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Kimstone [Member] UBS Programs [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Kimstone [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Kimstone [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Operating Properties [Member] Sold [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Operating Properties [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 RioCan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 KIR [Member]
Note 4 - Investments and Advances in Real Estate Joint Ventures (Details) [Line Items]
Number of Joint Ventures							4				3														3			2
Number of Accounts	4		4
Sales of Real Estate												$ 735,000,000							$ 228,800,000	$ 603,500,000	$ 17,600,000									$ 180,000,000																$ 75,500,000	$ 127,000,000										$ 315,500,000									$ 153,300,000		$ 30,000,000
Transfer Mortgage Payable				13,655,000								609,200,000
Deferred Gain on Sale of Property												21,700,000
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value												145,200,000
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate																	1.15%	5.00%
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Term												5 years
Number of Agreements																												1
Number of Real Estate Properties	22		22				60	[1],[2],[3]	61	[1],[2],[3]			0	[4]	138	[4]				11	9		2	10		2	84	81	[5],[6],[7]		87	[5],[6],[7]		12	[2],[8]	12	[2],[8]				[10],[11],[2],[9]	40	[10],[11],[2],[9]					56	[12],[2]	58	[12],[2]		21	[13],[2],[9]	22	[13],[2],[9]	29	[14],[15],[16],[17]	131	[14],[15],[16],[17]					1
Gains (Losses) on Sales of Investment Real Estate					3,000,000														30,900,000									6,100,000		8,300,000															12,100,000												21,800,000
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage							15.00%	[1],[2],[3]	15.00%	[1],[2],[3]			0.00%	[4]		[4]													[5],[6],[7]			[5],[6],[7]	24.24%	39.50%	[2],[8]	15.20%	[2],[8]				[10],[11],[2],[9]	17.90%	[10],[11],[2],[9]						[12],[2]		[12],[2]		37.90%	[13],[2],[9]	37.70%	[13],[2],[9]		[14],[15],[16],[17]		[14],[15],[16],[17]	3.57%	66.70%	33.30%
Payments to Acquire Equity Method Investments							15,800,000																											38,300,000					1,100,000,000																						48,400,000
Payments to Acquire Real Estate			182,423,000	338,959,000																																		32,700,000						14,200,000
Business Combination, Step Acquisition, Equity Interest in Acquiree, Remeasurement Gain			21,711,000	14,156,000																																								500,000		2,000,000
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt																																																				2,400,000	13,700,000
Impairment of Real Estate				37,700,000		600,000	4,000,000													12,900,000		1,000,000						2,000,000																																						31,700,000
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Properties																												7,600,000
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent																																																																33.30%
Release of Liability of Debt from Sale																				301,200,000
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Properties, before Applicable Income Taxes																				78,200,000	4,000,000
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	24,238,000	5,520,000	28,110,000	13,581,000																		25,100,000
Other Income																																													1,100,000	2,600,000
Real Estate Partnership Investment Subsidiaries, Net Income (Loss) before Tax																																																																			7,500,000
Real Estate Tax Expense	$ 30,900,000	$ 28,823,000	$ 88,770,000	$ 84,131,000																																																															$ 1,500,000

[1] This venture represents four separate joint ventures, with four separate accounts managed by Prudential Real Estate Investors ("PREI"), three of these ventures are collectively referred to as KimPru and the remaining venture is referred to as KimPru II.

[2] The Company manages these joint venture investments and, where applicable, earns acquisition fees, leasing commissions, property management fees, asset management fees and construction management fees.

[3] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company purchased the remaining interest in an operating property for a purchase price of $15.8 million. As a result of this transaction, KimPru recognized an impairment charge of $4.0 million, of which the Company's share was $0.6 million.

[4] The Company's share of this investment was subject to fluctuation and dependent upon property cash flows. During June 2013, the Intown portfolio was sold for a sales price of $735.0 million which included the assignment of $609.2 million in debt. This transaction resulted in a deferred gain to the Company of $21.7 million. The Company continues to maintain its guarantee of $145.2 million of outstanding debt assumed by the buyer. The guarantee is collateralized by the buyer's ownership interest in the portfolio. The Company is entitled to a guarantee fee, for the initial term of the loan, which is scheduled to mature in December 2015. The guarantee fee is calculated based upon the difference between LIBOR plus 1.15% and 5.0% per annum multiplied by the outstanding amount of the loan. Additionally, the Company has entered into a commitment to provide financing up to $145.2 million for five years past the date of maturity. This commitment can be in the form of extensions with the current lender, loans from a new lender or financing directly from the Company to the buyer. Due to this continued involvement, the Company deferred its gain until such time that the guarantee and commitment expire.

[5] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company amended one of its Canadian preferred equity investment agreements to restructure the investment as a pari passu joint venture in which the Company holds a noncontrolling interest. As a result of this transaction, the Company continues to account for its investment in this joint venture under the equity method of accounting and includes this investment in Investments and advances to real estate joint ventures within the Company's Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

[6] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, a joint venture in which the Company has a noncontrolling interest sold an operating property for a sales price of $7.6 million and recognized an impairment charge of $2.0 million. The Company's share of this impairment charge was $1.0 million.

[7] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, two joint ventures in which the Company held noncontrolling interests sold two operating properties to the Company, in separate transactions, for an aggregate sales price of $228.8 million. The Company evaluated these transactions pursuant to the FASB's Consolidation guidance. As such, the Company recognized an aggregate gain of $30.9 million, before income tax, from the fair value adjustment associated with its original ownership due to a change in control and now consolidates these operating properties.

[8] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company purchased an additional 24.24% interest in Kimco Income Fund for $38.3 million.

[9] Ownership % is a blended rate

[10] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, UBS sold an operating property to the Company for a sales price of $32.7 million, which was equal to the remaining debt balance. The Company evaluated this transaction pursuant to the FASB's Consolidation guidance. As such the Company recognized no gain or loss from a change in control and now consolidates this operating property.

[11] During June 2013, the Company increased its ownership interest in the UBS Programs to 33.3% and simultaneously UBS transferred its remaining 66.7% ownership interest in the UBS Programs to affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII ("Blackstone"). Both of these transactions were based on a gross purchase price of $1.1 billion. Upon completion of these transactions, Blackstone and the Company entered into a new joint venture (Kimstone) in which the Company owns a 33.3% noncontrolling interest.

[12] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, a joint venture in which the Company held a noncontrolling interest sold an operating property to the Company for a sales price of $14.2 million. The Company evaluated this transaction pursuant to the FASB's Consolidation guidance. As such the Company recognized a gain of $0.5 million from the fair value adjustment associated with the Company's original ownership due to a change in control and now consolidates this operating property.

[13] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, BIG recognized a gain on early extinguishment of debt of $13.7 million related to a property that was foreclosed on by a third party lender. The Company's share of this gain was $2.4 million.

[14] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, joint ventures in which the Company held noncontrolling interests sold ten operating properties located throughout Mexico for $315.5 million. These transactions resulted in an aggregate net gain to the Company of $21.8 million, after tax.

[15] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company and its joint venture partner sold their noncontrolling ownership interest in a joint venture which held interests in 84 operating properties located throughout Mexico for $603.5 million (including debt of $301.2 million). This transaction resulted in a net gain to the Company of $78.2 million, before income taxes of $25.1 million.

[16] During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, a joint venture in which the Company held a noncontrolling interest sold nine operating properties located throughout Chile for net proceeds of $17.6 million. This transaction resulted in a net gain to the Company of $4.0 million.

[17] The Company is currently in advanced negotiations to sell 11 operating properties located throughout Mexico, which are held in unconsolidated joint ventures in which the Company holds noncontrolling interests. Based upon the allocation of the selling price, the Company has recorded impairment charges of $12.9 million on six of these properties. (see Footnote 2 - Impairment Charges).