Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands, ft² in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) a ft² $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate properties (in sq feet) | ft²		30.9
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate properties under development (in sq feet) | ft²		0.6
Undeveloped land suitable for development (in acres) | a		400
Net proceeds of Common Stock sold during the period | $		$ 70,307	$ 187,214
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Common Units of partnership owned by the Company (in shares)		102,800,000
Percentage of ownership of Common Units (in hundredths)		97.30%
Common Units redeemed for a like number of common shares of stock (in shares)		8,000
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member] | ATM Equity Offering [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Net proceeds of Common Stock sold during the period | $		$ 68,300
Number of Common Stock sold during the period (in shares)		1,363,919
Average price of Common Stock sold during the period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 50.85
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member] | ATM Equity Offering [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Net proceeds of Common Stock sold during the period | $	$ 300,000
Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership [Member]
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Common Units of partnership not owned by the Company (in shares)		2,800,000