Income Taxes - (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Current:
Federal	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
State	970	63	1,047
Total current	970aiv_TotalCurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	63aiv_TotalCurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	1,047aiv_TotalCurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Deferred:
Federal	11,556	7,621	7,116
State	3,485	1,685	812
Total deferred	15,041	9,306	7,928
Total expense (benefit)	16,011aiv_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefits	9,369aiv_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefits	8,975aiv_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefits
Classification:
Continuing operations	(20,047)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	(1,959)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	(858)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Discontinued operations	0	11,328	9,833
Gain on dispositions of real estate	$ 36,058	$ 0	$ 0

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- Definition

the portion of Income tax expense resulting from gains on sales of real estate

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Income Tax Expense Benefits.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Total Current Federal Tax Expense (Benefit) including continuing and discontinued operations

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No definition available.

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Total Current Income Tax Expense (Benefit) including both continuing and discontinued operations

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No definition available.

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Total Current State and Local Tax Expense (Benefit) including both continuing and discontinued operations

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Total Deferred Federal Income Tax Expense (Benefit) including both continuing and discontinued operations

+ References

No definition available.

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Total Deferred Income Tax Expense (Benefit) including both continuing and discontinued operations

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No definition available.

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Total Deferred State and Local Income Tax Expense (Benefit) including both continuing and discontinued operations

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No definition available.

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Tax effect allocated to a disposal group that is classified as a component of the entity reported as a separate component of income before extraordinary items. Includes the tax effects of the following: income (loss) from operations during the phase-out period, gain (loss) on disposal, provision (or any reversals of earlier provisions) for loss on disposal, and adjustments of a prior period gain (loss) on disposal.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 205

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-Section 50

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-Subparagraph (b),(c)

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- Definition

Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

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-Glossary Income Tax Expense (or Benefit)

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