Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parentheticals) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Assets:
Accounts receivable allowance	$ 624	$ 928
Mortgages and notes receivable allowance	105	287
Accrued straight-line rents receivable allowance	692	257
Deferred leasing costs, accumulated amortization	140,081	115,172
Prepaid expenses and other assets, accumulated amortization	$ 19,904	$ 17,830
Equity/Capital:
Preferred Stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Preferred Stock, authorized shares (in shares)	50,000,000	50,000,000
Preferred Stock, liquidation preference (in dollars per share)	$ 1,000	$ 1,000
Preferred Stock, shares issued (in shares)	28,920	29,050
Preferred Stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	28,920	29,050
Common Stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common Stock, authorized shares (in shares)	200,000,000	200,000,000
Common Stock, shares issued (in shares)	101,665,554	96,091,932
Common Stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	101,665,554	96,091,932
Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership [Member]
Assets:
Accounts receivable allowance	$ 624	$ 928
Mortgages and notes receivable allowance	105	287
Accrued straight-line rents receivable allowance	692	257
Deferred leasing costs, accumulated amortization	140,081	115,172
Prepaid expenses and other assets, accumulated amortization	$ 19,904	$ 17,830
Redeemable Operating Partnership Units:
Redeemable Common Units, outstanding (in shares)	2,838,704	2,899,752
Preferred Units liquidation preference (in dollars per share)	$ 1,000	$ 1,000
Series A Preferred Units, issued (in shares)	28,920	29,050
Series A Preferred Units, outstanding (in shares)	28,920	29,050
Common Units:
General partners' capital account, units outstanding (in shares)	1,040,954	985,829
Limited partners' capital account, units outstanding (in shares)	100,215,791	94,697,294