Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Cash paid for interest, capitalized	$ 13.3	$ 10.0
Essex Portfolio, L.P. [Member]
Cash paid for interest, capitalized	$ 13.3	$ 10.0

Amount of cash paid for interest capitalized, classified as investing activity.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109223946&loc=d3e3213-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98513485&loc=d3e4297-108586

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration