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Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Details) ft² in Millions, $ in Millions | 9 Months Ended
--- | ---
Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) a ft² shares | Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items] |  |
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate properties (in sq feet) | ft² | 30.7 |
Rentable square feet of commercial real estate properties under development (in sq feet) | ft² | 1.8 |
Undeveloped land suitable for future development (in acres) | a | 350 |
Self insurance liability | $ | $ 0.6 |
Historical capitalized leasing related costs | $ | $ 2.5 |
Accounting Standards Update 2016-18 [Member] |  |
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items] |  |
Net decrease in investing activities, effect of adoption, quantification | $ |  | $ 18.6
Highwoods Properties, Inc. [Member] |  |
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items] |  |
Common Units of partnership owned by the Company (in shares) | shares | 103,100,000 |
Percentage of ownership of Common Units (in hundredths) | 97.40% |
Common Units redeemed for a like number of common shares of stock (in shares) | shares | 26,196 |
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) | shares | 2,800,000 |

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- Definition Area of undeveloped land parcels owned in acres. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The number of units not held by the Company. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The percentage of units held by the Company. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The average annual amount of certain historical leasing related costs capitalized and amortized. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The amount of square footage related to real estate properties. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Carrying amount (including both current and noncurrent portions) of accrued known and estimated losses incurred as of the balance sheet date for which no insurance coverage exists, and for which a claim has been made or is probable of being asserted. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The number of shares converted in a noncash (or part noncash) transaction. Noncash is defined as transactions during a period that do not result in cash receipts or cash payments in the period. "Part noncash" refers to that portion of the transaction not resulting in cash receipts or cash payments in the period. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98513485&loc=d3e4313-108586 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98513485&loc=d3e4304-108586 Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98513485&loc=d3e4332-108586 + Details
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