Mortgage and Other Indebtedness (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended						6 Months Ended																																																		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013		Jul. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012		Jun. 30, 2013 Wells Fargo Bank [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Unsecured lines of credit [Member] CreditLines	Mar. 31, 2013 Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Unsecured lines of credit [Member] Wells Fargo Bank [Member] CreditLines	Jun. 30, 2013 Wells Fargo Facility A [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Wells Fargo Facility B [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 First Tennessee Bank [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Secured Line of Credit 3 [Member] First Tennessee Bank [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan 1 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Unsecured Term Loan 2 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Debt to total asset value [Member] Debt Covenant Requirement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Debt to total asset value [Member] Debt Covenant Ratios Actual [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Ratio of unencumbered asset value to unsecured indebtedness [Member] Debt Covenant Requirement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Ratio of unencumbered asset value to unsecured indebtedness [Member] Debt Covenant Ratios Actual [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Ratio of unencumbered NOI to unsecured interest expense [Member] Debt Covenant Requirement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Ratio of unencumbered NOI to unsecured interest expense [Member] Debt Covenant Ratios Actual [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Ratio of EBITDA to fixed charges (debt service) [Member] Debt Covenant Requirement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Ratio of EBITDA to fixed charges (debt service) [Member] Debt Covenant Ratios Actual [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member] Non-recourse Loans on Operating Properties [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member] Financing method obligation [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Fixed-Rate Debt [Member] Financing method obligation [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Variable-Rate Debt [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Variable-Rate Debt [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Non Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Non Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Recourse Term Loans On Operating Properties [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Construction Loans [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Construction Loans [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Secured line of credit [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Secured line of credit [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Unsecured Term Loan [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Variable-Rate Debt [Member] Unsecured Term Loan [Member]		Jun. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member] Unsecured lines of credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Interest Rate Swap [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Mortgage and other indebtedness		$ 4,622,395,000			$ 4,745,683,000
Mortgage and other indebtness amount carrying value																											3,534,693,000		3,794,509,000		3,516,429,000	[1]	3,776,245,000	[1]	18,264,000	[2]	18,264,000	[2]	1,087,702,000		951,174,000		134,525,000		123,875,000		78,820,000		97,682,000		40,963,000		15,366,000		783,394,000		475,626,000		0	[3]	10,625,000	[3]	50,000,000		228,000,000
Weighted Average Interest Rate (in hundredths)		4.71%	[4]		4.79%	[4]												2.09%									5.57%	[4]	5.43%	[4]	5.56%	[4]	5.42%	[4]	8.00%	[4]	8.00%	[4]	1.90%	[4]	2.20%	[4]	3.00%	[4]	3.36%	[4]	2.33%	[4]	1.78%	[4]	2.94%	[4]	2.96%	[4]	1.60%	[4]	2.07%	[4]	0.00%	[4]	2.46%	[4]	2.09%	[4]	1.82%	[4]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		1,300,000,000								600,000	600,000,000		600,000,000		100,000,000	105,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding		783,394,000									300,297,000	[5]	430,418,000	[6]	52,679,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date		May 31, 2015									Nov. 13, 2015		Nov. 11, 2016		Feb. 05, 2016		Apr. 22, 2013
Debt Instrument, Number of Instruments								3		2																																																														4
Extinguishment of Debt, Amount	77,099,000																228,000,000
Unsecured Long-term Debt, Noncurrent																		50,000,000
Interest Rate Terms																		LIBOR plus 1.90%
Line of Credit Facility, Covenant Compliance																			< 60%	50.3%	> 1.60x	3.65x	> 1.75x	8.80x	> 1.50x	2.09x
Fees on amount of unused availability of secured lines of credit, minimum (in hundredths)																																																																			0.30%	0.25%		0.30%
Line of Credit, Option Exercise, Fee Charged, Percent							0.20%
Line of credit, extended maturity date											Nov. 11, 2016		Nov. 10, 2017
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis								LIBOR plus	LIBOR plus
Basis Spread On Variable Rate Debt		140		150
Debt Lower Range Of Basis Spread On Variable Rate																																																																			100	155	100
Debt Higher Range Of Basis Spread On Variable Rate																																																																						210	175
Line of Credit Facility, Commitment Fee Percentage																																																																					0.15%		0.35%
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount											475,000		617,000
Additional secured and unsecured lines of credit with commitment											50,000,000
Covenants and Restrictions [Abstract]
Minimum loan amount in default payment for recourse loan		50,000,000
Minimum loan amount in default payment for non-recourse loan		$ 150,000,000

[1] The Company has four interest rate swaps on notional amounts totaling $111,881 as of June 30, 2013 and $113,885 as of December 31, 2012 related to four variable-rate loans on operating properties to effectively fix the interest rate on the respective loans. Therefore, these amounts are reflected in fixed-rate debt at June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012.

[2] This amount represents the noncontrolling partner's equity contributions related to Pearland Town Center that is accounted for as a financing due to certain terms of the CBL/T-C, LLC joint venture agreement.

[3] The Company converted its secured line of credit to unsecured in February 2013.

[4] Weighted-average interest rate includes the effect of debt premiums (discounts), but excludes amortization of deferred financing costs.

[5] There was an additional $475 outstanding on this facility as of June 30, 2013 for letters of credit. Up to $50,000 of the capacity on this facility can be used for letters of credit.

[6] There was an additional $617 outstanding on this facility as of June 30, 2013 for letters of credit. Up to $50,000 of the capacity on this facility can be used for letters of credit.