Represents the maximum percentage of commission to each sales agent for the proceeds from the sale of stock.

No definition available.

Name:	cbl_CommissionToSalesAgentPercent
Namespace Prefix:	cbl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the maximum aggregate offering price of common stock available to be issued under the program.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cbl_CommonStockOfferingMaximumAggregatePrice
Namespace Prefix:	cbl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the maximum aggregate offering price of common stock still available to be issued under the program.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cbl_CommonStockOfferingMaximumAggregatePriceStillAvailable
Namespace Prefix:	cbl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

proceeds from sale of common stock weighted average price per share

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cbl_ProceedsFromSaleOfCommonStockWeightedAveragePricePerShare
Namespace Prefix:	cbl_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of new stock issued during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(29))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21463-112644

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(28))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodSharesNewIssues
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TargetedOrTrackingStockStockLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementEquityComponentsAxis=cbl_AtTheMarketStockSalesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Equity and Capital (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
Equity and Capital (Details) - USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 01, 2013
Targeted or Tracking Stock, Stock [Line Items]
Common stock offering, maximum aggregate price			$ 300,000,000
Commission to sales agent, maximum (percent)			2.00%
Number of shares settled	330,938	323,353
Common stock offering, maximum aggregate price still available	$ 88,507,000
At The Market Stock Sales
Targeted or Tracking Stock, Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares settled	8,419,298.000
Weighted-average sales price (in usd per share)	$ 25.12