Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Details) $ in Thousands, ft² in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) a ft² property customers shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) property	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Description of Business [Abstract]
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate (in square feet) | ft²	31.1
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate under development (in square feet) | ft²	1.1
Undeveloped land suitable for future development (in acres) | a	400
Number of common units required to convert to one share of common stock (in shares) | shares	1
Number of trading days preceeding Redemption Notice Date (in days)	10 days
Consolidated in-service office properties not wholly owned (in units) | property	3
Joint venture partner's interest in unconsolidated affiliate (in hundredths)		80.00%
Real estate assets, depreciation expense	$ 173,072	$ 168,663	$ 154,448
Maturity of highly liquid investments (in months)	3 months
Percent of annual REIT taxable income required to pay to the Company's stockholders	90.00%
Customers with leases on wholly owned properties | customers	1,741
Percent of annualized cash rental revenue derived from geographic locations	10.00%
Limit of consolidated revenue generated by any single customer	6.00%
Adjustment interval of variable debt interest rates, mimimum (in months)	1 month
Adjustment interval of variable debt interest rates, maximum (in months)	3 months
Debt issuance costs reclassified to contra liability account	$ 1,948,047	2,491,813
Debt issuance costs reclassified to prepaid expenses and other assets	$ 40,437	$ 26,649
Section 1031 Exchange VIE Member
Description of Business [Abstract]
Number of office properties acquired | property		3
VIE total assets		$ 421,300
VIE total liabilities		16,300
VIE total cash flows		$ 7,100
Building [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment useful life	40 years
Building Improvements [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment useful life	15 years
Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment useful life	5 years
Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment useful life	7 years
Leaseholds and Leasehold Improvements [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment useful life	3 years
Leaseholds and Leasehold Improvements [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment useful life	10 years
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Common Units of partnership owned (in shares) | shares	101,300,000
Percentage of ownership of Common Units	97.30%	97.10%
Common units redeemed for a like number of common shares of stock (in shares) | shares	61,048
Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Common Units of partnership not owned by the Company (in shares) | shares	2,800,000
Debt issuance costs reclassified to contra liability account	$ 1,948,047	$ 2,491,813
Debt issuance costs reclassified to prepaid expenses and other assets	$ 40,437	26,649
Accounting Standards Update 2015-03 [Member]
Description of Business [Abstract]
Debt issuance costs reclassified to contra liability account		7,800
Debt issuance costs reclassified to prepaid expenses and other assets		$ 2,100