Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parentheticals) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Assets:
Accounts receivable allowance	$ 753	$ 624
Mortgages and notes receivable allowance	72	105
Accrued straight-line rents receivable allowance	819	692
Deferred leasing costs, accumulated amortization	143,512	140,081
Prepaid expenses and other assets, accumulated amortization	$ 19,092	$ 19,904
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)	28,892	28,920
Preferred Stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	28,892	28,920
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)	103,266,875	101,665,554
Common Stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	103,266,875	101,665,554
Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership [Member]
Assets:
Accounts receivable allowance	$ 753	$ 624
Mortgages and notes receivable allowance	72	105
Accrued straight-line rents receivable allowance	819	692
Deferred leasing costs, accumulated amortization	143,512	140,081
Prepaid expenses and other assets, accumulated amortization	$ 19,092	$ 19,904
Redeemable Operating Partnership Units:
Redeemable Common Units, outstanding (in shares)	2,828,704	2,838,704
Preferred Units liquidation preference (in dollars per share)	$ 1,000	$ 1,000
Series A Preferred Units, issued (in shares)	28,892	28,920
Series A Preferred Units, outstanding (in shares)	28,892	28,920
Common Units:
General partners' capital account, units outstanding (in shares)	1,056,868	1,040,954
Limited partners' capital account, units outstanding (in shares)	101,801,198	100,215,791