The Macerich Company (MAC) 10-Q 3 Nov 17 2017 Q3 Quarterly report Financial data

Document and Entity Information

Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Nov. 02, 2017
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	MACERICH CO
Entity Central Index Key	912,242
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2017
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		140,772,872
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2,017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
ASSETS:
Property, net	$ 7,164,649	$ 7,357,310
Cash and cash equivalents	71,088	94,046
Restricted cash	50,736	49,951
Tenant and other receivables, net	111,153	136,998
Deferred charges and other assets, net	439,495	478,058
Due from affiliates	81,184	68,227
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	1,688,606	1,773,558
Total assets	9,606,911	9,958,148
Mortgage notes payable:
Related parties	172,810	176,442
Others	3,910,864	3,908,976
Total	4,083,674	4,085,418
Bank and other notes payable	966,757	880,482
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	69,617	61,316
Other accrued liabilities	302,082	366,165
Distributions in excess of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	88,569	78,626
Co-venture obligation	59,118	58,973
Total liabilities	5,569,817	5,530,980
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' equity:
Common stock, $0.01 par value, 250,000,000 shares authorized, 140,918,189 and 143,985,036 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	1,409	1,440
Additional paid-in capital	4,503,670	4,593,229
Accumulated deficit	(758,758)	(488,782)
Total stockholders' equity	3,746,321	4,105,887
Noncontrolling interests	290,773	321,281
Total equity	4,037,094	4,427,168
Total liabilities and equity	$ 9,606,911	$ 9,958,148

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Pa

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) - $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Statement of Financial Position [Abstract]
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, shares authorized	250,000,000	250,000,000
Common stock, shares issued	140,918,189	143,985,036
Common Stock, shares outstanding	140,918,189	143,985,036

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPER

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Revenues:
Minimum rents	$ 144,991	$ 154,018	$ 443,439	$ 457,514
Percentage rents	2,806	3,871	6,784	9,279
Tenant recoveries	72,897	74,447	214,257	230,568
Other	11,701	12,048	40,484	42,985
Management Companies	10,056	8,983	31,955	28,925
Total revenues	242,451	253,367	736,919	769,271
Expenses:
Shopping center and operating expenses	75,598	76,310	222,527	229,544
Management Companies' operating expenses	22,046	23,285	76,779	75,484
REIT general and administrative expenses	5,287	6,930	21,208	23,240
Depreciation and amortization	83,147	86,976	249,463	259,097
Total expenses before interest	186,078	193,501	569,977	587,365
Interest expense:
Related parties	2,175	2,224	6,567	6,752
Other	41,090	37,759	120,320	114,202
Total interest expense	43,265	39,983	126,887	120,954
Gain on extinguishment of debt, net	0	(5,284)	0	(1,709)
Total expenses	229,343	228,200	696,864	706,610
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	23,993	11,261	56,772	37,537
Co-venture expense	(3,150)	(3,006)	(11,150)	(9,507)
Income tax (expense) benefit	(2,869)	(905)	178	(2,736)
(Loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net	(11,854)	(19,321)	37,234	426,050
Net income	19,228	13,196	123,089	514,005
Less net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	1,730	(534)	9,710	34,138
Net income attributable to the Company	$ 17,498	$ 13,730	$ 113,379	$ 479,867
Earnings per common share—net income attributable to common stockholders:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.12	$ 0.09	$ 0.79	$ 3.25
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.12	$ 0.09	$ 0.79	$ 3.25
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	141,299	143,923	142,188	147,504
Diluted (in shares)	141,310	144,036	142,223	147,630

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EQUIT

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EQUITY - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Total	Total Stockholders' Equity	Common Stock	Additional Paid-in Capital	Accumulated Deficit	Noncontrolling Interests
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-09	$ 6,484	$ 6,484			$ 6,484
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2016	143,985,036		143,985,036
Balance at Dec. 31, 2016	$ 4,427,168	4,105,887	$ 1,440	$ 4,593,229	(488,782)	$ 321,281
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Net income	123,089	113,379			113,379	9,710
Amortization of share and unit-based plans (in shares)			87,632
Amortization of share and unit-based plans	30,437	30,437	$ 1	30,436
Employee stock purchases (in shares)			20,443
Employee stock purchases	986	986		986
Stock repurchases (in shares)			(3,627,390)
Stock repurchases	(221,428)	(221,428)	$ (36)	(135,176)	(86,216)
Distributions declared ($2.13) per share	(303,623)	(303,623)			(303,623)
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	(25,110)					(25,110)
Conversion of noncontrolling interests to common shares (in shares)			452,468
Conversion of noncontrolling interests to common shares		15,195	$ 4	15,191		(15,195)
Redemption of noncontrolling interests	$ (909)	(608)		(608)		(301)
Adjustment of noncontrolling interests in Operating Partnership		(388)		(388)		388
Balance (in shares) at Sep. 30, 2017	140,918,189		140,918,189
Balance at Sep. 30, 2017	$ 4,037,094	$ 3,746,321	$ 1,409	$ 4,503,670	$ (758,758)	$ 290,773

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EQUI6

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EQUITY (Parenthetical)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017$ / shares
Statement of Stockholders' Equity [Abstract]
Distributions declared, per share (in dollars per share)	$ 2.13

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$ 123,089	$ 514,005
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Gain on early extinguishment of debt, net	0	(1,709)
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net	(37,234)	(426,050)
Depreciation and amortization	253,793	263,514
Amortization of net premium on mortgage notes payable	(2,799)	(3,082)
Amortization of share and unit-based plans	25,159	27,643
Straight-line rent adjustment	(7,502)	(3,449)
Amortization of above and below-market leases	(408)	(9,115)
Provision for doubtful accounts	3,806	2,460
Income tax (benefit) expense	(178)	2,736
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	(56,772)	(37,537)
Distributions of income from unconsolidated joint ventures	0	5,607
Co-venture expense	11,150	9,507
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions and dispositions:
Tenant and other receivables	838	2,370
Other assets	11,743	(6,100)
Due from affiliates	(13,004)	14,729
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	11,263	(6,459)
Other accrued liabilities	(23,094)	(17,983)
Net cash provided by operating activities	299,850	331,087
Cash flows from investing activities:
Development, redevelopment, expansion and renovation of properties	(90,758)	(153,131)
Property improvements	(34,425)	(24,638)
Proceeds from repayment of notes receivable	628	3,361
Deferred leasing costs	(25,045)	(21,326)
Distributions from unconsolidated joint ventures	226,152	411,405
Contributions to unconsolidated joint ventures	(80,332)	(404,283)
Proceeds from sale of assets	168,471	696,716
Restricted cash	(785)	(13,978)
Net cash provided by investing activities	163,906	494,126
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from mortgages, bank and other notes payable	510,000	2,716,138
Payments on mortgages, bank and other notes payable	(424,439)	(2,024,965)
Deferred financing costs	(2,586)	(8,822)
Payment of finance deposits	8,600	7,200
Proceeds from share and unit-based plans	986	834
Payment of debt extinguishment costs	0	(12,028)
Stock repurchases	(221,428)	(800,018)
Redemption of noncontrolling interests	(909)	(30)
Settlement of contingent consideration	0	10,012
Dividends and distributions	(328,733)	(667,785)
Distributions to co-venture partner	(11,005)	(13,654)
Net cash used in financing activities	(486,714)	(827,542)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(22,958)	(2,329)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	94,046	86,510
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	71,088	84,181
Supplemental cash flow information:
Cash payments for interest, net of amounts capitalized	124,686	113,187
Non-cash investing and financing transactions:
Accrued development costs included in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other accrued liabilities	30,706	29,777
Mortgage notes payable assumed in exchange for investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	0	997,695
Mortgage note payable settled by deed-in-lieu of foreclosure	0	37,000
Conversion of Operating Partnership Units to common stock	$ 15,195	$ 10,720

Organization

Organization	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization	Organization : The Macerich Company (the "Company") is involved in the acquisition, ownership, development, redevelopment, management and leasing of regional and community/power shopping centers (the "Centers") located throughout the United States. The Company commenced operations effective with the completion of its initial public offering on March 16, 1994. As of September 30, 2017 , the Company was the sole general partner of and held a 93% ownership interest in The Macerich Partnership, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership"). The Company was organized to qualify as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The property management, leasing and redevelopment of the Company's portfolio is provided by the Company's management companies, Macerich Property Management Company, LLC, a single member Delaware limited liability company, Macerich Management Company, a California corporation, Macerich Arizona Partners LLC, a single member Arizona limited liability company, Macerich Arizona Management LLC, a single member Delaware limited liability company, Macerich Partners of Colorado LLC, a single member Colorado limited liability company, MACW Mall Management, Inc., a New York corporation, and MACW Property Management, LLC, a single member New York limited liability company. All seven of the management companies are collectively referred to herein as the "Management Companies." All references to the Company in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q include the Company, those entities owned or controlled by the Company and predecessors of the Company, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Summary of Significant Accounti

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	Summary of Significant Accounting Policies: Basis of Presentation: The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. They do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and have not been audited by an independent registered public accounting firm. The Company's sole significant asset is its investment in the Operating Partnership and as a result, substantially all of the Company's assets and liabilities represent the assets and liabilities of the Operating Partnership. In addition, the Operating Partnership has investments in a number of variable interest entities ("VIEs"). The Operating Partnership's VIEs included the following assets and liabilities: September 30, December 31, Assets: Property, net $ 300,149 $ 307,582 Other assets 70,881 68,863 Total assets $ 371,030 $ 376,445 Liabilities: Mortgage notes payable $ 130,403 $ 133,245 Other liabilities 77,272 75,913 Total liabilities $ 207,675 $ 209,158 All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the consolidated financial statements. The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company's audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 . In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements for the interim periods have been made. The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2016 has been derived from the audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. Recent Accounting Pronouncements: In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2014-09, “Revenue From Contracts With Customers,” which outlines a comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers. ASU 2014-09 states that “an entity recognizes revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.” While ASU 2014-09 specifically references contracts with customers, it may apply to certain other transactions such as the sale of real estate or equipment. ASU 2014-09 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted beginning January 1, 2017. The Company has evaluated each of its revenue streams and related accounting policies under the standard. The standard will initially apply to the Company's recognition of management companies and other revenues. This standard will not apply to the Company's recognition of tenant recoveries until January 1, 2019, when it adopts ASU 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)", as discussed below. Upon adoption of the standard, the Company has determined that the pattern of revenue recognition for management companies and other revenues will not change. Additionally, the Company will account for its joint venture in Chandler Fashion Center and Freehold Raceway Mall (See Note 10 — Co-Venture Arrangement ) as a financing arrangement. As a result, the Company will replace the co-venture obligation on its consolidated balance sheet with a financing arrangement liability. The financing arrangement liability will be recorded at fair value upon adoption with any subsequent changes in fair value recognized as interest expense in its consolidated statements of operations. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, which sets out principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract (i.e. lessees and lessors). The standard requires that lessors expense, on an as-incurred basis, certain initial direct costs that are not incremental in negotiating a lease. Under existing standards, certain of these costs are capitalizable and therefore this new standard may result in certain of these costs being expensed as incurred after adoption. Additionally, under the standard, certain common area maintenance recoveries must be accounted for as a non-lease component. The Company will evaluate whether bifurcating common area maintenance will affect the timing or recognition of such revenues. Under ASU 2016-02, lessees apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases. A lessee is required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than twelve months, regardless of their lease classification. The Company is a lessee on ground leases at certain properties, on certain office space leases and on certain other improvements and equipment. ASU 2016-02 will impact the accounting and disclosure requirements for these leases. ASU 2016-02 is effective for the Company under a modified retrospective approach beginning January 1, 2019. The Company is evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, "Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718)," which amended the accounting for share-based payments, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards and classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company's adoption of this standard on January 1, 2017 under the modified retrospective method resulted in the recognition of excess tax benefits of $6,484 as a cumulative effect adjustment, which reduced its accumulated deficit and increased its deferred tax assets by the same amount. Recent Accounting Pronouncements: (Continued) In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, "Statement of Cash flows (Topic 230)," which amended the accounting for the statement of cash flows by providing guidance on how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The Company's adoption of this standard on January 1, 2017 resulted in the reclassification of $12,028 of debt extinguishment costs from operating activities to financing activities on its consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 . On November 17, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, “Restricted Cash,” which requires that the statement of cash flows explain the change during a reporting period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents. This standard states that transfers between cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash are not part of the entity’s operating, investing, and financing activities. Therefore, restricted cash should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe that the adoption of ASU 2016-18 will have a significant impact on its consolidated statements of cash flows. On January 5, 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, “Business Combinations,” which clarifies the definition of a business. The objective of the standard is to add further guidance that assists entities in evaluating whether a transaction will be accounted for as an acquisition of an asset or a business. The guidance requires an entity to evaluate if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets. If so, the set of transferred assets and activities are not a business. The guidance also requires a business to include at least one substantive process and narrows the definition of outputs. ASU 2017-01 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted using a prospective transition method. The Company does not believe that the adoption of 2017-01 will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements. In February 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-05, “Other Income-Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Subtopic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Nonfinancial Assets,” which clarifies the scope of asset derecognition and adds further guidance for recognizing gains and losses from the transfer of nonfinancial assets in contracts with non-customers. The Company is required to adopt ASU 2017-05 beginning January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe that the adoption of ASU No. 2017-05 will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Earnings per Share ("EPS")

Earnings per Share ("EPS")	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Earnings per Share (EPS)	Earnings per Share ("EPS"): The following table reconciles the numerator and denominator used in the computation of EPS for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 (shares in thousands): For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Numerator Net income $ 19,228 $ 13,196 $ 123,089 $ 514,005 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (1,730 ) 534 (9,710 ) (34,138 ) Net income attributable to the Company 17,498 13,730 113,379 479,867 Allocation of earnings to participating securities (193 ) (170 ) (567 ) (586 ) Numerator for basic and diluted EPS—net income attributable to common stockholders $ 17,305 $ 13,560 $ 112,812 $ 479,281 Denominator Denominator for basic EPS—weighted average number of common shares outstanding 141,299 143,923 142,188 147,504 Effect of dilutive securities(1): Share and unit-based compensation plans 11 113 35 126 Denominator for diluted EPS—weighted average number of common shares outstanding 141,310 144,036 142,223 147,630 Earnings per common share—net income attributable to common stockholders: Basic $ 0.12 $ 0.09 $ 0.79 $ 3.25 Diluted $ 0.12 $ 0.09 $ 0.79 $ 3.25 (1) Diluted EPS excludes 90,619 and 138,759 convertible preferred partnership units for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and 90,619 and 138,759 convertible preferred partnership units for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, as their impact was antidilutive. Diluted EPS excludes 10,324,376 and 10,666,565 Operating Partnership units ("OP Units") for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and 10,479,806 and 10,773,029 OP Units for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, as their impact was antidilutive.

Investments in Unconsolidated J

Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures	Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: The Company has made the following recent investments and dispositions in its unconsolidated joint ventures: On January 6, 2016 , the Company sold a 40% ownership interest in Arrowhead Towne Center , a 1,197,000 square foot regional shopping center in Glendale , Arizona , for $289,496 , resulting in a gain on the sale of assets of $101,629 . The sales price was funded by a cash payment of $129,496 and the assumption of a pro rata share of the mortgage note payable on the property of $160,000 . The Company used the cash proceeds from the sale to pay down its line of credit and for general corporate purposes, which included funding the Special Dividend (See Note 12 — Stockholders' Equity ). Upon completion of the sale of the ownership interest, the Company no longer has a controlling interest in the joint venture due to the substantive participation rights of the outside partner. Accordingly, the Company accounts for its investment in Arrowhead Towne Center under the equity method of accounting. On January 14, 2016 , the Company formed a joint venture, whereby the Company sold a 49% ownership interest in Deptford Mall , a 1,040,000 square foot regional shopping center in Deptford , New Jersey ; FlatIron Crossing , a 1,432,000 square foot regional shopping center in Broomfield , Colorado ; and Twenty Ninth Street , an 847,000 square foot regional shopping center in Boulder , Colorado (the " MAC Heitman Portfolio "), for $771,478 , resulting in a gain on the sale of assets of $340,734 . The sales price was funded by a cash payment of $478,608 and the assumption of a pro rata share of the mortgage notes payable on the properties of $292,870 . The Company used the cash proceeds from the sale to pay down its line of credit and for general corporate purposes. Upon completion of the sale of the ownership interest, the Company no longer has a controlling interest in the joint venture due to the substantive participation rights of the outside partner. Accordingly, the Company accounts for its investment in the MAC Heitman Portfolio under the equity method of accounting. On March 1, 2016 , the Company, through a 50 /50 joint venture, acquired Country Club Plaza , a 1,001,000 square foot regional shopping center in Kansas City , Missouri , for a purchase price of $660,000 . The Company funded its pro rata share of the purchase price of $330,000 from borrowings under its line of credit. On March 28, 2016 , the joint venture placed a $320,000 loan on the property that bears interest at an effective rate of 3.88% and matures on April 1, 2026 . The Company used its pro rata share of the proceeds to pay down its line of credit and for general corporate purposes. On March 17, 2017 , the Company's joint venture in Country Club Plaza sold an office building for $78,000 , resulting in a gain on sale of assets of $4,580 . The Company's pro rata share of the gain on the sale of assets of $2,290 was included in equity in income from joint ventures. The Company used its share of the proceeds to fund repurchases under the 2017 Stock Buyback Program (See Note 12 — Stockholders' Equity ). On September 18, 2017 , the Company's joint venture in Fashion District Philadelphia sold an office building for $61,500 , resulting in a gain on sale of assets of $13,426 . The Company's pro rata share of the gain on the sale of assets of $6,713 was included in equity in income from joint ventures. The Company used its share of the proceeds to fund repurchases under the 2017 Stock Buyback Program (See Note 12 — Stockholders' Equity ). Combined and condensed balance sheets and statements of operations are presented below for all unconsolidated joint ventures. Combined and Condensed Balance Sheets of Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: September 30, December 31, Assets(1): Property, net $ 9,058,868 $ 9,176,642 Other assets 655,905 614,607 Total assets $ 9,714,773 $ 9,791,249 Liabilities and partners' capital(1): Mortgage and other notes payable(2) $ 5,311,238 $ 5,224,713 Other liabilities 438,235 403,369 Company's capital 2,166,954 2,279,819 Outside partners' capital 1,798,346 1,883,348 Total liabilities and partners' capital $ 9,714,773 $ 9,791,249 Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures: Company's capital $ 2,166,954 $ 2,279,819 Basis adjustment(3) (566,917 ) (584,887 ) $ 1,600,037 $ 1,694,932 Assets—Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures $ 1,688,606 $ 1,773,558 Liabilities—Distributions in excess of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures (88,569 ) (78,626 ) $ 1,600,037 $ 1,694,932 (1) These amounts include the assets of $3,120,534 and $3,179,255 of Pacific Premier Retail LLC (the " PPR Portfolio ") as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively, and liabilities of $1,878,719 and $1,887,952 of the PPR Portfolio as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. (2) Included in mortgage and other notes payable are amounts due to an affiliate of Northwestern Mutual Life ("NML") of $484,716 and $265,863 as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. NML is considered a related party because it is a joint venture partner with the Company in Macerich Northwestern Associates—Broadway Plaza. Interest expense on these borrowings was $4,903 and $2,775 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $12,992 and $14,133 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. (3) The Company amortizes the difference between the cost of its investments in unconsolidated joint ventures and the book value of the underlying equity into income on a straight-line basis consistent with the lives of the underlying assets. The amortization of this difference was $4,227 and $4,988 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $12,451 and $14,114 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. Combined and Condensed Statements of Operations of Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: PPR Portfolio Other Total Three Months Ended September 30, 2017 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 35,052 $ 123,663 $ 158,715 Percentage rents 903 3,953 4,856 Tenant recoveries 12,015 47,841 59,856 Other 1,713 12,329 14,042 Total revenues 49,683 187,786 237,469 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 10,591 60,394 70,985 Interest expense 16,890 33,214 50,104 Depreciation and amortization 25,449 62,958 88,407 Total operating expenses 52,930 156,566 209,496 Gain on sale or write down of assets, net — 13,426 13,426 Net (loss) income $ (3,247 ) $ 44,646 $ 41,399 Company's equity in net income $ 620 $ 23,373 $ 23,993 Three Months Ended September 30, 2016 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 33,332 $ 121,109 $ 154,441 Percentage rents 1,117 4,228 5,345 Tenant recoveries 11,933 48,540 60,473 Other 987 11,697 12,684 Total revenues 47,369 185,574 232,943 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 9,897 61,335 71,232 Interest expense 16,688 32,126 48,814 Depreciation and amortization 27,091 70,030 97,121 Total operating expenses 53,676 163,491 217,167 Loss on sale or write down of assets, net — (343 ) (343 ) Net (loss) income $ (6,307 ) $ 21,740 $ 15,433 Company's equity in net (loss) income $ (871 ) $ 12,132 $ 11,261 PPR Portfolio Other Joint Ventures Total Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 100,633 $ 373,931 $ 474,564 Percentage rents 1,854 7,817 9,671 Tenant recoveries 34,827 141,875 176,702 Other 4,141 36,857 40,998 Total revenues 141,455 560,480 701,935 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 30,062 181,475 211,537 Interest expense 50,291 98,469 148,760 Depreciation and amortization 76,527 187,927 264,454 Total operating expenses 156,880 467,871 624,751 (Loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net (35 ) 18,005 17,970 Net (loss) income $ (15,460 ) $ 110,614 $ 95,154 Company's equity in net (loss) income $ (1,376 ) $ 58,148 $ 56,772 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 95,389 $ 347,146 $ 442,535 Percentage rents 2,219 8,605 10,824 Tenant recoveries 35,828 138,635 174,463 Other 4,514 34,801 39,315 Total revenues 137,950 529,187 667,137 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 28,997 173,563 202,560 Interest expense 47,957 91,130 139,087 Depreciation and amortization 81,971 187,327 269,298 Total operating expenses 158,925 452,020 610,945 Loss on sale or write down of assets, net — (343 ) (343 ) Net (loss) income $ (20,975 ) $ 76,824 $ 55,849 Company's equity in net (loss) income $ (3,845 ) $ 41,382 $ 37,537 Significant accounting policies used by the unconsolidated joint ventures are similar to those used by the Company.

Property, net

Property, net	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Real Estate [Abstract]
Property, net	Property, net: Property, net consists of the following: September 30, December 31, Land $ 1,578,877 $ 1,607,590 Buildings and improvements 6,412,728 6,511,741 Tenant improvements 613,854 622,878 Equipment and furnishings 184,379 177,036 Construction in progress 342,539 289,966 9,132,377 9,209,211 Less accumulated depreciation (1,967,728 ) (1,851,901 ) $ 7,164,649 $ 7,357,310 Depreciation expense was $69,343 and $68,792 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $207,663 and $206,870 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. The (loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net was $(11,854) and $(19,321) for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $37,234 and $426,050 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. The (loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 includes a gain of $59,698 on the sale of Cascade Mall and Northgate Mall (See Note 14 — Dispositions ) offset in part by a loss of $10,138 on the write down of an investment in non-real estate assets. The (loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 includes a gain of $101,629 on the sale of a 40% ownership interest in Arrowhead Towne Center (See Note 4 — Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures ), a gain of $340,734 on the sale of a 49% ownership interest in the MAC Heitman Portfolio (See Note 4 — Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures ), a gain of $24,894 on the sale of Capitola Mall (See Note 14 — Dispositions ), a loss of $3,066 on the sale of a former Mervyn's store (See Note 14 — Dispositions ) and a loss of $12,180 on an adjustment to contingent consideration (See Note 13—Acquisitions). The (loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net also includes impairment losses of $12,036 on Southridge Center for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 , $23,335 on Promenade at Casa Grande for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and $7,188 on The Marketplace at Flagstaff for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 . The impairment losses are due to the reduction of the estimated holding period of the properties. The following table summarizes certain of the Company's assets that were measured on a nonrecurring basis as a result of impairment charges recorded for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 as described above: Total Fair Value Measurement Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets Significant Other Unobservable Inputs Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 1) (Level 2) (Level 3) 2017 $ 11,500 $ — $ 11,500 $ — 2016 $ 66,000 $ — $ — $ 66,000 The fair value relating to impairment assessments were based upon a discounted cash flow model that includes all cash inflows and outflows over a specific holding period, or the negotiated sales price, if applicable. Projected cash flows are comprised of contractual rental revenues and forecasted rental revenues and expenses based upon market conditions and expectations for growth. Terminal capitalization rates and discount rates utilized in these models are based on a reasonable range of current market rates for each property analyzed. Based upon these inputs, the Company determined that its valuations of properties using a discounted cash flow model are classified within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy. The following table sets forth quantitative information about the unobservable inputs of the Company’s Level 3 real estate recorded as of September 30, 2016 : Terminal capitalization rate 7.0% - 8.0% Discount rate 8.0% - 9.5% Market rents per square foot $5.75 - $20.00

Tenant and Other Receivables, n

Tenant and Other Receivables, net	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Loans and Leases Receivable Disclosure [Abstract]
Tenant and Other Receivables, net	Tenant and Other Receivables, net: Included in tenant and other receivables, net is an allowance for doubtful accounts of $2,559 and $1,991 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. Also included in tenant and other receivables, net are accrued percentage rents of $1,866 and $9,509 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively, and a deferred rent receivable due to straight-line rent adjustments of $62,182 and $56,761 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. On March 17, 2014 , in connection with the sale of Lake Square Mall , the Company issued a note receivable for $6,500 that bore interest at an effective rate of 6.5% , which was collateralized by a trust deed on Lake Square Mall and that was to mature on March 17, 2018 . At September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , the note had a balance of $6,245 and $6,284 , respectively. On October 20, 2017, the note was repaid in full. The Company used the proceeds from the repayment for general corporate purposes.

Deferred Charges and Other Asse

Deferred Charges and Other Assets, net	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Deferred Charges and Other Assets, net	Deferred Charges and Other Assets, net: Deferred charges and other assets, net consist of the following: September 30, December 31, Leasing $ 232,443 $ 239,983 Intangible assets: In-place lease values 112,994 140,437 Leasing commissions and legal costs 27,621 32,384 Above-market leases 171,156 181,851 Deferred tax assets 44,964 38,301 Deferred compensation plan assets 49,430 42,711 Other assets 59,358 72,206 697,966 747,873 Less accumulated amortization(1) (258,471 ) (269,815 ) $ 439,495 $ 478,058 (1) Accumulated amortization includes $75,818 and $88,785 relating to in-place lease values, leasing commissions and legal costs at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. Amortization expense of in-place lease values, leasing commissions and legal costs was $4,206 and $8,983 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $15,755 and $26,033 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. The allocated values of above-market leases and below-market leases consist of the following: September 30, December 31, Above-Market Leases Original allocated value $ 171,156 $ 181,851 Less accumulated amortization (61,000 ) (57,505 ) $ 110,156 $ 124,346 Below-Market Leases(1) Original allocated value $ 128,750 $ 144,713 Less accumulated amortization (57,314 ) (58,400 ) $ 71,436 $ 86,313 (1) Below-market leases are included in other accrued liabilities.

Mortgage Notes Payable

Mortgage Notes Payable	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Mortgage Notes Payable	Mortgage Notes Payable: Mortgage notes payable at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 consist of the following: Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes(1) September 30, 2017 December 31, 2016 Property Pledged as Collateral Related Party Other Related Party Other Effective Interest Rate(2) Monthly Debt Service(3) Maturity Date(4) Chandler Fashion Center(5) $ — $ 199,885 $ — $ 199,833 3.77 % $ 625 2019 Danbury Fair Mall 105,448 105,448 107,929 107,928 5.53 % 1,538 2020 Fashion Outlets of Chicago(6) — 199,218 — 198,966 2.90 % 457 2020 Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA — 113,534 — 115,762 4.89 % 727 2020 Freehold Raceway Mall(5)(7) — 217,379 — 220,643 4.20 % 1,132 2018 Fresno Fashion Fair — 323,208 — 323,062 3.67 % 971 2026 Green Acres Commons(8) — 107,446 — — 3.96 % 312 2021 Green Acres Mall — 293,004 — 297,798 3.61 % 1,447 2021 Kings Plaza Shopping Center — 449,709 — 456,958 3.67 % 2,229 2019 Northgate Mall(9) — — — 63,434 — — — Oaks, The — 197,875 — 201,235 4.14 % 1,064 2022 Pacific View — 125,136 — 127,311 4.08 % 668 2022 Queens Center — 600,000 — 600,000 3.49 % 1,744 2025 Santa Monica Place(10) — 215,508 — 219,564 2.99 % 1,004 2018 SanTan Village Regional Center — 125,470 — 127,724 3.14 % 589 2019 Stonewood Center(11) — 94,994 — 99,520 1.80 % 640 2017 Towne Mall — 21,266 — 21,570 4.48 % 117 2022 Tucson La Encantada 67,362 — 68,513 — 4.23 % 368 2022 Victor Valley, Mall of — 114,602 — 114,559 4.00 % 380 2024 Vintage Faire Mall — 265,195 — 269,228 3.55 % 1,256 2026 Westside Pavilion — 141,987 — 143,881 4.49 % 783 2022 $ 172,810 $ 3,910,864 $ 176,442 $ 3,908,976 (1) The mortgage notes payable balances include the unamortized debt premiums (discounts). Debt premiums (discounts) represent the excess (deficiency) of the fair value of debt over (under) the principal value of debt assumed in various acquisitions and are amortized into interest expense over the remaining term of the related debt in a manner that approximates the effective interest method. Debt premiums (discounts) consist of the following: Property Pledged as Collateral September 30, December 31, Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA $ 2,862 $ 3,558 Stonewood Center 246 2,349 $ 3,108 $ 5,907 The mortgage notes payable balances also include unamortized deferred finance costs that are amortized into interest expense over the remaining term of the related debt in a manner that approximates the effective interest method. Unamortized deferred finance costs were $12,810 and $12,716 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. (2) The interest rate disclosed represents the effective interest rate, including the debt premiums (discounts) and deferred finance costs. (3) The monthly debt service represents the payment of principal and interest. (4) The maturity date assumes that all extension options are fully exercised and that the Company does not opt to refinance the debt prior to these dates. These extension options are at the Company's discretion, subject to certain conditions, which the Company believes will be met. (5) A 49.9% interest in the loan has been assumed by a third party in connection with a co-venture arrangement (See Note 10 — Co-Venture Arrangement ). (6) The loan bears interest at LIBOR plus 1.50% and matures on March 31, 2020 . At September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , the total interest rate was 2.90% and 2.43% , respectively. (7) On October 19, 2017 , the joint venture replaced the existing loan on the property with a new $400,000 loan that bears interest at 3.90% and matures on November 1, 2029 (See Note 19 — Subsequent Events ). (8) On September 29, 2017 , the Company placed a new $110,000 loan on the property that bears interest at LIBOR plus 2.15% and matures on March 29, 2021 . The loan can be expanded, depending on certain conditions, up to $130,000 . At September 30, 2017 , the total interest rate was 3.96% . (9) On January 18, 2017 , the loan was paid off in connection with the sale of the underlying property (See Note 14 — Dispositions ). (10) On October 13, 2017 , the Company entered into a loan commitment with a lender to replace the existing loan on the property with a new $300,000 five -year floating rate loan. The new loan is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Company expects to use the excess proceeds to pay down its line of credit (See Note 19 — Subsequent Events ). (11) On November 1, 2017 , the Company paid off the loan on the property (See Note 19 — Subsequent Events ). Most of the mortgage loan agreements contain a prepayment penalty provision for the early extinguishment of the debt. The Company's mortgage notes payable are secured by the properties on which they are placed and are non-recourse to the Company. The Company expects that all loan maturities during the next twelve months will be refinanced, restructured, extended and/or paid-off from the Company's line of credit or with cash on hand. Total interest expense capitalized was $3,428 and $2,707 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $9,405 and $7,572 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. Related party mortgage notes payable are amounts due to an affiliate of NML. See Note 16 — Related Party Transactions for interest expense associated with loans from NML. The estimated fair value (Level 2 measurement) of mortgage notes payable at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 was $4,112,364 and $4,126,819 , respectively, based on current interest rates for comparable loans. Fair value was determined using a present value model and an interest rate that included a credit value adjustment based on the estimated value of the property that serves as collateral for the underlying debt.

Bank and Other Notes Payable

Bank and Other Notes Payable	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Bank and Other Notes Payable	Bank and Other Notes Payable: Bank and other notes payable consist of the following: Line of Credit: The Company has a $1,500,000 revolving line of credit that bears interest at LIBOR plus a spread of 1.30% to 1.90% , depending on the Company's overall leverage level, and matures on July 6, 2020 with a one -year extension option. The line of credit can be expanded, depending on certain conditions, up to a total facility of $2,000,000 . Based on the Company's leverage level as of September 30, 2017 , the borrowing rate on the facility was LIBOR plus 1.45% . As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , borrowings under the line of credit, were $970,000 and $885,000 , respectively, less unamortized deferred finance costs of $8,176 and $10,039 , respectively, at a total interest rate of 3.01% and 2.40% , respectively. The estimated fair value (Level 2 measurement) of the line of credit at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 was $960,233 and $865,921 , respectively, based on a present value model using a credit interest rate spread offered to the Company for comparable debt. Prasada Note: On March 29, 2013, the Company issued a $13,330 note payable that bears interest at 5.25% and matures on May 30, 2021. The note payable is collateralized by a portion of a development reimbursement agreement with the City of Surprise, Arizona. At September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , the note had a balance of $4,933 and $5,521 , respectively. The estimated fair value (Level 2 measurement) of the note at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 was $5,067 and $5,786 , respectively, based on current interest rates for comparable notes. Fair value was determined using a present value model and an interest rate that included a credit value adjustment based on the estimated value of the collateral for the underlying debt. As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , the Company was in compliance with all applicable financial loan covenants.

Co-Venture Arrangement

Co-Venture Arrangement	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Co-Venture Arrangement
Co-Venture Arrangement	Co-Venture Arrangement: On September 30, 2009 , the Company formed a joint venture, whereby a third party acquired a 49.9% interest in Freehold Raceway Mall , a 1,671,000 square foot regional shopping center in Freehold , New Jersey , and Chandler Fashion Center , a 1,318,000 square foot regional shopping center in Chandler , Arizona . As a result of the Company having certain rights under the agreement to repurchase the assets after the seventh year of the venture formation, the transaction did not qualify for sale treatment. The Company, however, is not obligated to repurchase the assets. The transaction has been accounted for as a profit-sharing arrangement, and accordingly the assets, liabilities and operations of the properties remain on the books of the Company and a co-venture obligation was established for the amount of $168,154 , representing the net cash proceeds received from the third party. The co-venture obligation is increased for the allocation of income to the co-venture partner and decreased for distributions to the co-venture partner. The co-venture obligation was $59,118 and $58,973 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively.

Noncontrolling Interests

Noncontrolling Interests	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Noncontrolling Interests	Noncontrolling Interests: The Company allocates net income of the Operating Partnership based on the weighted average ownership interest during the period. The net income of the Operating Partnership that is not attributable to the Company is reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as noncontrolling interests. The Company adjusts the noncontrolling interests in the Operating Partnership at the end of each period to reflect its ownership interest in the Company. The Company had a 93% ownership interest in the Operating Partnership as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 . The remaining 7% limited partnership interest as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 was owned by certain of the Company's executive officers and directors, certain of their affiliates and other third party investors in the form of OP Units. The OP Units may be redeemed for shares of stock or cash, at the Company's option. The redemption value for each OP Unit as of any balance sheet date is the amount equal to the average of the closing price per share of the Company's common stock, par value $0.01 per share, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange for the 10 trading days ending on the respective balance sheet date. Accordingly, as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , the aggregate redemption value of the then-outstanding OP Units not owned by the Company was $555,597 and $733,141 , respectively. The Company issued common and preferred units of MACWH, LP in April 2005 in connection with the acquisition of the Wilmorite portfolio. The common and preferred units of MACWH, LP are redeemable at the election of the holder. The Company may redeem them for cash or shares of the Company's stock at the Company's option and they are classified as permanent equity. Included in permanent equity are outside ownership interests in various consolidated joint ventures. The joint ventures do not have rights that require the Company to redeem the ownership interests in either cash or stock.

Stockholders' Equity

Stockholders' Equity	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Stockholders' Equity	Stockholders' Equity: 2015 Stock Buyback Program: On September 30, 2015 , the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $1,200,000 of the Company's outstanding common shares over the period ending September 30, 2017 , as market conditions warranted. On November 12, 2015 , the Company entered into an accelerated share repurchase program ("ASR") to repurchase $400,000 of the Company's common stock. In accordance with the ASR, the Company made a prepayment of $400,000 and received an initial share delivery of 4,140,788 shares. On January 19, 2016 , the ASR was completed and the Company received delivery of an additional 970,609 shares. The average price of the 5,111,397 shares repurchased under the ASR was $78.26 per share. The ASR was funded from proceeds in connection with the financing and sale of a 40% ownership interest in the PPR Portfolio . On February 17, 2016 , the Company entered into an ASR to repurchase an additional $400,000 of the Company's common stock. In accordance with the ASR, the Company made a prepayment of $400,000 and received an initial share delivery of 4,222,193 shares. On April 19, 2016 , the ASR was completed and the Company received delivery of an additional 861,235 shares. The average price of the 5,083,428 shares repurchased under the ASR was $78.69 per share. The ASR was funded from borrowings under the Company's line of credit, which had been paid down from the proceeds from the financings and sale of ownership interests in Arrowhead Towne Center and the MAC Heitman Portfolio (See Note 4 — Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures ). On May 9, 2016 , the Company entered into an ASR to repurchase the remaining $400,000 of the Company's common stock authorized for repurchase. In accordance with the ASR, the Company made a prepayment of $400,000 and received an initial share delivery of 3,964,812 shares. On July 11, 2016 , the ASR was completed and the Company received delivery of an additional 1,104,162 shares. The average price of the 5,068,974 shares repurchased under the ASR was $78.91 per share. The ASR was funded from borrowings under the Company's line of credit, which had been paid down from the proceeds from the financings and sale of ownership interests in Arrowhead Towne Center and the MAC Heitman Portfolio (See Note 4 — Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures ). 2017 Stock Buyback Program: On February 12, 2017 , the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $500,000 of its outstanding common shares as market conditions and the Company’s liquidity warrant. Repurchases may be made through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, structured or derivative transactions, including ASR transactions, or other methods of acquiring shares and pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Act of 1934, from time to time as permitted by securities laws and other legal requirements. During the period from February 12, 2017 to September 30, 2017 , the Company repurchased a total of 3,627,390 of its common shares for $221,428 , representing an average price of $61.01 per share. The Company funded the repurchases from the net proceeds of the sale of Cascade Mall and Northgate Mall (See Note 14 — Dispositions ), its share of the proceeds from the sale of office buildings at Fashion District Philadelphia and Country Club Plaza (See Note 4 — Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures ) and from borrowings under its line of credit. Special Dividends: On October 30, 2015, the Company declared two special dividends/distributions ("Special Dividend"), each of $2.00 per share of common stock and per OP Unit. The first Special Dividend was paid on December 8, 2015 to common stockholders and OP Unit holders of record on November 12, 2015. The second Special Dividend was paid on January 6, 2016 to common stockholders and OP Unit holders of record on November 12, 2015. The Special Dividends were funded from proceeds in connection with the financing and sale of ownership interests in the PPR Portfolio and Arrowhead Towne Center (See Note 4 — Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures ). At-The-Market Stock Offering Program ("ATM Program"): On August 20, 2014, the Company entered into an equity distribution agreement with a number of sales agents (the "ATM Program") to issue and sell, from time to time, shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, having an aggregate offering price of up to $500,000 (the “ATM Shares”). Sales of the ATM Shares could have been made in privately negotiated transactions and/or any other method permitted by law, including sales deemed to be an “at the market” offering, which included sales made directly on the New York Stock Exchange or sales made to or through a market maker other than on an exchange. The Company agreed to pay each sales agent a commission that was not to exceed, but could have been lower than, 2% of the gross proceeds of the ATM Shares sold through such sales agent under the distribution agreement. The ATM program expired by its term in August 2017. No shares were sold under the program.

Acquisitions

Acquisitions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Business Combinations [Abstract]
Acquisitions	Acquisitions: Fashion Outlets of Chicago : On October 31, 2014 , the Company purchased the outside ownership interest in its consolidated joint venture in Fashion Outlets of Chicago for $69,987 . The purchase price was funded by a cash payment of $55,867 and the settlement of the balance on notes receivables of $14,120 . The purchase agreement included contingent consideration based on the financial performance of Fashion Outlets of Chicago at an agreed upon date in 2016. On August 19, 2016 , the Company paid $23,800 in full settlement of the contingent consideration obligation.

Dispositions

Dispositions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]
Dispositions	Dispositions: The following are recent dispositions of properties: On April 13, 2016 , the Company sold Capitola Mall , a 586,000 square foot regional shopping center in Capitola , California , for $93,000 , resulting in a gain on the sale of assets of $24,894 . The Company used the proceeds from the sale to pay down its line of credit and for general corporate purposes. On May 31, 2016 , the Company sold a former Mervyn's store in Yuma , Arizona , for $3,200 , resulting in a loss on the sale of assets of $3,066 . The Company used the proceeds from the sale to pay down its line of credit and for general corporate purposes. On July 15, 2016 , the Company conveyed Flagstaff Mall , a 347,000 square foot regional shopping center in Flagstaff , Arizona , to the mortgage lender by a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure and was discharged from the mortgage note payable. The loan was non-recourse to the Company. As a result, the Company recognized a gain on the extinguishment of debt of $5,284 . On January 18, 2017 , the Company sold Cascade Mall , a 589,000 square foot regional shopping center in Burlington , Washington ; and Northgate Mall , a 750,000 square foot regional shopping center in San Rafael , California , in a combined transaction for $170,000 , resulting in a gain on the sale of assets of $59,698 . The proceeds were used to pay off the mortgage note payable on Northgate Mall and to repurchase shares of the Company's common stock under the 2017 Stock Buyback Program (See Note 12 — Stockholders' Equity ).

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Commitments and Contingencies	Commitments and Contingencies: The Company has certain properties that are subject to non-cancelable operating ground leases. The leases expire at various times through 2098, subject in some cases to options to extend the terms of the lease. Certain leases provide for contingent rent payments based on a percentage of base rental income, as defined in the lease. Ground lease rent expense was $2,589 and $2,395 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $7,757 and $7,312 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. No contingent rent was incurred during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 or 2016 . As of September 30, 2017 , the Company was contingently liable for $60,927 in letters of credit guaranteeing performance by the Company of certain obligations relating to the Centers. The Company does not believe that these letters of credit will result in a liability to the Company. The Company has entered into a number of construction agreements related to its redevelopment and development activities. Obligations under these agreements are contingent upon the completion of the services within the guidelines specified in the agreements. At September 30, 2017 , the Company had $62,609 in outstanding obligations which it believes will be settled in the next twelve months.

Related Party Transactions

Related Party Transactions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Related Party Transactions	Related Party Transactions: Certain unconsolidated joint ventures have engaged the Management Companies to manage the operations of the Centers. Under these arrangements, the Management Companies are reimbursed for compensation paid to on-site employees, leasing agents and project managers at the Centers, as well as insurance costs and other administrative expenses. The following are fees charged to unconsolidated joint ventures: For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Management fees $ 4,749 $ 4,271 $ 13,914 $ 13,240 Development and leasing fees 3,385 2,952 11,376 10,149 $ 8,134 $ 7,223 $ 25,290 $ 23,389 Certain mortgage notes on the properties are held by NML (See Note 8 — Mortgage Notes Payable ). Interest expense in connection with these notes was $2,175 and $2,224 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $6,567 and $6,752 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. Included in accounts payable and accrued expenses is interest payable on these notes of $721 and $736 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. Due from (to) affiliates includes unreimbursed and/or prepaid costs and fees from unconsolidated joint ventures due to (from) the Management Companies. As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , the amounts due from (to) the unconsolidated joint ventures was $4,905 and $(6,809) , respectively. In addition, due from affiliates at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 included a note receivable from RED/303 LLC ("RED") that bears interest at 5.25% and matures on May 30, 2021. Interest income earned on this note was $66 and $81 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $204 and $294 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. The balance on this note was $4,998 and $5,593 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. RED is considered a related party because it is a partner in a joint venture development project. The note is collateralized by RED's membership interest in the development project. Also included in due from affiliates is a note receivable from Lennar Corporation that bears interest at LIBOR plus 2% and matures upon the completion of certain milestones in connection with the development of Fashion Outlets of San Francisco . Interest income earned on this note was $621 and $583 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $1,839 and $1,629 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. The balance on this note was $71,281 and $69,443 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. Lennar Corporation is considered a related party because it is a joint venture partner in Fashion Outlets of San Francisco .

Share and Unit-Based Plans

Share and Unit-Based Plans	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]
Share and Unit-Based Plans	Share and Unit-Based Plans: Under the Long-Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP"), each award recipient is issued a form of units ("LTIP Units") in the Operating Partnership. Upon the occurrence of specified events and subject to the satisfaction of applicable vesting conditions, LTIP Units (after conversion into OP Units) are ultimately redeemable for common stock of the Company, or cash at the Company's option, on a one -unit for one -share basis. LTIP Units receive cash dividends based on the dividend amount paid on the common stock of the Company. The LTIP may include both market-indexed awards and service-based awards. The market-indexed LTIP Units vest over the service period of the award based on the percentile ranking of the Company in terms of total return to the stockholders (the "Total Return") per common stock share relative to the Total Return of a group of peer REITs, as measured at the end of the measurement period. On January 1, 2017 , the Company granted 66,079 LTIP Units with a grant date fair value of $70.84 per LTIP Unit that will vest in equal annual installments over a service period ending December 31, 2019 . Concurrently, the Company granted 297,849 market-indexed LTIP Units ("2017 LTIP Units") at a grant date fair value of $47.15 per LTIP Unit that vest over a service period ending December 31, 2019 . The fair value of the 2017 LTIP Units was estimated on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo Simulation model that assumed a risk free interest rate of 1.49% and an expected volatility of 20.75% . On March 3, 2017 , the Company granted 134,742 LTIP Units at a fair value of $66.57 per LTIP Unit that were fully vested on the grant date. On May 30, 2017 , the Company granted 25,000 non-qualified stock options with a grant date fair value of $10.02 that will vest on May 30, 2019 . The Company measured the value of each option awarded using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model based upon the following assumptions: volatility of 30.19% , dividend yield of 4.93% , risk free rate of 2.08% , current value of $57.55 and an expected term of 8 years . On June 1, 2017 , the Company granted 1,522 LTIP Units with a grant date fair value of $58.31 per LTIP Unit that will vest in equal annual installments over a service period ending May 29, 2020 . Concurrently, the Company granted 6,714 market-indexed LTIP Units at a grant date fair value of $39.66 per LTIP Unit that vest over a service period ending May 29, 2020 . The fair value of the market-indexed LTIP Units was estimated on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo Simulation model that assumed a risk free interest rate of 1.45% and an expected volatility of 21.40% . The following summarizes the compensation cost under the share and unit-based plans: For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 LTIP Units $ 5,269 $ 5,204 $ 24,892 $ 27,752 Stock awards — — — 20 Stock units 1,002 965 4,947 5,339 Stock options 34 4 53 12 Phantom stock units 185 212 545 1,010 $ 6,490 $ 6,385 $ 30,437 $ 34,133 The Company capitalized share and unit-based compensation costs of $983 and $750 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $5,278 and $6,490 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. Unrecognized compensation costs of share and unit-based plans at September 30, 2017 consisted of $5,554 from LTIP Units, $4,338 from stock units, $208 from stock options and $466 from phantom stock units. The following table summarizes the activity of the non-vested LTIP Units, phantom stock units and stock units: LTIP Units Phantom Stock Units Stock Units Units Value(1) Units Value(1) Units Value(1) Balance at January 1, 2017 322,572 $ 58.18 5,845 $ 81.47 148,428 $ 78.53 Granted 506,906 55.33 8,439 68.34 86,426 66.47 Vested (134,742 ) 66.57 (8,166 ) 71.85 (80,804 ) 75.67 Forfeited — — — — (2,695 ) 69.57 Balance at September 30, 2017 694,736 $ 54.48 6,118 $ 76.20 151,355 $ 73.32 (1) Value represents the weighted average grant date fair value. The following table summarizes the activity of the stock appreciations rights ("SARs") and stock options outstanding: SARs Stock Options Units Value(1) Units Value(1) Balance at January 1, 2017 284,146 $ 53.85 10,565 $ 56.77 Granted — — 25,000 57.55 Exercised — — — — Balance at September 30, 2017 284,146 $ 53.85 35,565 $ 57.32 (1) Value represents the weighted average exercise price.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Income Taxes	Income Taxes: The Company has made taxable REIT subsidiary elections for all of its corporate subsidiaries other than its qualified REIT subsidiaries. The elections, effective for the year beginning January 1, 2001 and future years, were made pursuant to Section 856(l) of the Code. The Company's taxable REIT subsidiaries ("TRSs") are subject to corporate level income taxes which are provided for in the Company's consolidated financial statements. The Company's primary TRSs include Macerich Management Company and Macerich Arizona Partners LLC. The income tax provision of the TRSs are as follows: For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Current $ — $ (68 ) $ — $ (154 ) Deferred (2,869 ) (837 ) 178 (2,582 ) Income tax (expense) benefit $ (2,869 ) $ (905 ) $ 178 $ (2,736 ) The net operating loss carryforwards are currently scheduled to expire through 2035 , beginning in 2024 . Net deferred tax assets of $44,964 and $38,301 were included in deferred charges and other assets, net at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. The tax years 2013 through 2016 remain open to examination by the taxing jurisdictions to which the Company is subject. The Company does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefit will materially change within the next twelve months.

Subsequent Events

Subsequent Events	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Subsequent Events [Abstract]
Subsequent Events	Subsequent Events: On October 13, 2017 , the Company entered into a loan commitment with a lender to replace the existing loan on Santa Monica Place (See Note 8 — Mortgage Notes Payable ) with a new $300,000 five -year floating rate loan. The new loan is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Company expects to use the excess proceeds to pay down its line of credit. On October 19, 2017 , the Company's joint venture in Chandler Fashion Center and Freehold Raceway Mall (See Note 10 — Co-Venture Arrangement ) replaced the existing loan on Freehold Raceway Mall with a new $400,000 loan that bears interest at 3.90% and matures on November 1, 2029 . The Company used its share of the net proceeds to pay down its line of credit and for general corporate purposes. On October 24, 2017 , the Company announced a dividend/distribution of $0.74 per share for common stockholders and OP Unit holders of record on November 10, 2017 . All dividends/distributions will be paid 100% in cash on December 1, 2017 . On November 1, 2017 , the Company paid off in full the mortgage loan payable on Stonewood Center (See Note 8 — Mortgage Notes Payable ). The Company funded the repayment of the mortgage loan payable from borrowings under its line of credit. On November 2, 2017 , the Company entered into a loan commitment with a lender to place an $88,000 ten -year floating rate loan on Inland Center . The financing is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Company expects to use the loan proceeds to pay down its line of credit.

Summary of Significant Accoun27

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation: The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. They do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and have not been audited by an independent registered public accounting firm. The Company's sole significant asset is its investment in the Operating Partnership and as a result, substantially all of the Company's assets and liabilities represent the assets and liabilities of the Operating Partnership. In addition, the Operating Partnership has investments in a number of variable interest entities ("VIEs"). The Operating Partnership's VIEs included the following assets and liabilities: September 30, December 31, Assets: Property, net $ 300,149 $ 307,582 Other assets 70,881 68,863 Total assets $ 371,030 $ 376,445 Liabilities: Mortgage notes payable $ 130,403 $ 133,245 Other liabilities 77,272 75,913 Total liabilities $ 207,675 $ 209,158 All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the consolidated financial statements. The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company's audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 . In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements for the interim periods have been made. The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2016 has been derived from the audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements: In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2014-09, “Revenue From Contracts With Customers,” which outlines a comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers. ASU 2014-09 states that “an entity recognizes revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.” While ASU 2014-09 specifically references contracts with customers, it may apply to certain other transactions such as the sale of real estate or equipment. ASU 2014-09 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted beginning January 1, 2017. The Company has evaluated each of its revenue streams and related accounting policies under the standard. The standard will initially apply to the Company's recognition of management companies and other revenues. This standard will not apply to the Company's recognition of tenant recoveries until January 1, 2019, when it adopts ASU 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)", as discussed below. Upon adoption of the standard, the Company has determined that the pattern of revenue recognition for management companies and other revenues will not change. Additionally, the Company will account for its joint venture in Chandler Fashion Center and Freehold Raceway Mall (See Note 10 — Co-Venture Arrangement ) as a financing arrangement. As a result, the Company will replace the co-venture obligation on its consolidated balance sheet with a financing arrangement liability. The financing arrangement liability will be recorded at fair value upon adoption with any subsequent changes in fair value recognized as interest expense in its consolidated statements of operations. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, which sets out principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract (i.e. lessees and lessors). The standard requires that lessors expense, on an as-incurred basis, certain initial direct costs that are not incremental in negotiating a lease. Under existing standards, certain of these costs are capitalizable and therefore this new standard may result in certain of these costs being expensed as incurred after adoption. Additionally, under the standard, certain common area maintenance recoveries must be accounted for as a non-lease component. The Company will evaluate whether bifurcating common area maintenance will affect the timing or recognition of such revenues. Under ASU 2016-02, lessees apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases. A lessee is required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than twelve months, regardless of their lease classification. The Company is a lessee on ground leases at certain properties, on certain office space leases and on certain other improvements and equipment. ASU 2016-02 will impact the accounting and disclosure requirements for these leases. ASU 2016-02 is effective for the Company under a modified retrospective approach beginning January 1, 2019. The Company is evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, "Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718)," which amended the accounting for share-based payments, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards and classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company's adoption of this standard on January 1, 2017 under the modified retrospective method resulted in the recognition of excess tax benefits of $6,484 as a cumulative effect adjustment, which reduced its accumulated deficit and increased its deferred tax assets by the same amount. Recent Accounting Pronouncements: (Continued) In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, "Statement of Cash flows (Topic 230)," which amended the accounting for the statement of cash flows by providing guidance on how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The Company's adoption of this standard on January 1, 2017 resulted in the reclassification of $12,028 of debt extinguishment costs from operating activities to financing activities on its consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 . On November 17, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, “Restricted Cash,” which requires that the statement of cash flows explain the change during a reporting period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents. This standard states that transfers between cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash are not part of the entity’s operating, investing, and financing activities. Therefore, restricted cash should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe that the adoption of ASU 2016-18 will have a significant impact on its consolidated statements of cash flows. On January 5, 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, “Business Combinations,” which clarifies the definition of a business. The objective of the standard is to add further guidance that assists entities in evaluating whether a transaction will be accounted for as an acquisition of an asset or a business. The guidance requires an entity to evaluate if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets. If so, the set of transferred assets and activities are not a business. The guidance also requires a business to include at least one substantive process and narrows the definition of outputs. ASU 2017-01 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted using a prospective transition method. The Company does not believe that the adoption of 2017-01 will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements. In February 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-05, “Other Income-Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Subtopic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Nonfinancial Assets,” which clarifies the scope of asset derecognition and adds further guidance for recognizing gains and losses from the transfer of nonfinancial assets in contracts with non-customers. The Company is required to adopt ASU 2017-05 beginning January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe that the adoption of ASU No. 2017-05 will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Summary of Significant Accoun28

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Schedule of variable interest entities	The Operating Partnership's VIEs included the following assets and liabilities: September 30, December 31, Assets: Property, net $ 300,149 $ 307,582 Other assets 70,881 68,863 Total assets $ 371,030 $ 376,445 Liabilities: Mortgage notes payable $ 130,403 $ 133,245 Other liabilities 77,272 75,913 Total liabilities $ 207,675 $ 209,158

Earnings per Share ("EPS") (Tab

Earnings per Share ("EPS") (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Reconciliation of numerator and denominator used in computation of earnings per share	The following table reconciles the numerator and denominator used in the computation of EPS for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 (shares in thousands): For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Numerator Net income $ 19,228 $ 13,196 $ 123,089 $ 514,005 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (1,730 ) 534 (9,710 ) (34,138 ) Net income attributable to the Company 17,498 13,730 113,379 479,867 Allocation of earnings to participating securities (193 ) (170 ) (567 ) (586 ) Numerator for basic and diluted EPS—net income attributable to common stockholders $ 17,305 $ 13,560 $ 112,812 $ 479,281 Denominator Denominator for basic EPS—weighted average number of common shares outstanding 141,299 143,923 142,188 147,504 Effect of dilutive securities(1): Share and unit-based compensation plans 11 113 35 126 Denominator for diluted EPS—weighted average number of common shares outstanding 141,310 144,036 142,223 147,630 Earnings per common share—net income attributable to common stockholders: Basic $ 0.12 $ 0.09 $ 0.79 $ 3.25 Diluted $ 0.12 $ 0.09 $ 0.79 $ 3.25 (1) Diluted EPS excludes 90,619 and 138,759 convertible preferred partnership units for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and 90,619 and 138,759 convertible preferred partnership units for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, as their impact was antidilutive. Diluted EPS excludes 10,324,376 and 10,666,565 Operating Partnership units ("OP Units") for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and 10,479,806 and 10,773,029 OP Units for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, as their impact was antidilutive.

Investments in Unconsolidated30

Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Combined and condensed balance sheets of unconsolidated joint ventures	Combined and Condensed Balance Sheets of Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: September 30, December 31, Assets(1): Property, net $ 9,058,868 $ 9,176,642 Other assets 655,905 614,607 Total assets $ 9,714,773 $ 9,791,249 Liabilities and partners' capital(1): Mortgage and other notes payable(2) $ 5,311,238 $ 5,224,713 Other liabilities 438,235 403,369 Company's capital 2,166,954 2,279,819 Outside partners' capital 1,798,346 1,883,348 Total liabilities and partners' capital $ 9,714,773 $ 9,791,249 Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures: Company's capital $ 2,166,954 $ 2,279,819 Basis adjustment(3) (566,917 ) (584,887 ) $ 1,600,037 $ 1,694,932 Assets—Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures $ 1,688,606 $ 1,773,558 Liabilities—Distributions in excess of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures (88,569 ) (78,626 ) $ 1,600,037 $ 1,694,932 (1) These amounts include the assets of $3,120,534 and $3,179,255 of Pacific Premier Retail LLC (the " PPR Portfolio ") as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively, and liabilities of $1,878,719 and $1,887,952 of the PPR Portfolio as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. (2) Included in mortgage and other notes payable are amounts due to an affiliate of Northwestern Mutual Life ("NML") of $484,716 and $265,863 as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. NML is considered a related party because it is a joint venture partner with the Company in Macerich Northwestern Associates—Broadway Plaza. Interest expense on these borrowings was $4,903 and $2,775 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $12,992 and $14,133 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. (3) The Company amortizes the difference between the cost of its investments in unconsolidated joint ventures and the book value of the underlying equity into income on a straight-line basis consistent with the lives of the underlying assets. The amortization of this difference was $4,227 and $4,988 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $12,451 and $14,114 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively.
Combined and condensed statements of operations of unconsolidated joint ventures	Combined and Condensed Statements of Operations of Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: PPR Portfolio Other Total Three Months Ended September 30, 2017 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 35,052 $ 123,663 $ 158,715 Percentage rents 903 3,953 4,856 Tenant recoveries 12,015 47,841 59,856 Other 1,713 12,329 14,042 Total revenues 49,683 187,786 237,469 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 10,591 60,394 70,985 Interest expense 16,890 33,214 50,104 Depreciation and amortization 25,449 62,958 88,407 Total operating expenses 52,930 156,566 209,496 Gain on sale or write down of assets, net — 13,426 13,426 Net (loss) income $ (3,247 ) $ 44,646 $ 41,399 Company's equity in net income $ 620 $ 23,373 $ 23,993 Three Months Ended September 30, 2016 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 33,332 $ 121,109 $ 154,441 Percentage rents 1,117 4,228 5,345 Tenant recoveries 11,933 48,540 60,473 Other 987 11,697 12,684 Total revenues 47,369 185,574 232,943 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 9,897 61,335 71,232 Interest expense 16,688 32,126 48,814 Depreciation and amortization 27,091 70,030 97,121 Total operating expenses 53,676 163,491 217,167 Loss on sale or write down of assets, net — (343 ) (343 ) Net (loss) income $ (6,307 ) $ 21,740 $ 15,433 Company's equity in net (loss) income $ (871 ) $ 12,132 $ 11,261 PPR Portfolio Other Joint Ventures Total Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 100,633 $ 373,931 $ 474,564 Percentage rents 1,854 7,817 9,671 Tenant recoveries 34,827 141,875 176,702 Other 4,141 36,857 40,998 Total revenues 141,455 560,480 701,935 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 30,062 181,475 211,537 Interest expense 50,291 98,469 148,760 Depreciation and amortization 76,527 187,927 264,454 Total operating expenses 156,880 467,871 624,751 (Loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net (35 ) 18,005 17,970 Net (loss) income $ (15,460 ) $ 110,614 $ 95,154 Company's equity in net (loss) income $ (1,376 ) $ 58,148 $ 56,772 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016 Revenues: Minimum rents $ 95,389 $ 347,146 $ 442,535 Percentage rents 2,219 8,605 10,824 Tenant recoveries 35,828 138,635 174,463 Other 4,514 34,801 39,315 Total revenues 137,950 529,187 667,137 Expenses: Shopping center and operating expenses 28,997 173,563 202,560 Interest expense 47,957 91,130 139,087 Depreciation and amortization 81,971 187,327 269,298 Total operating expenses 158,925 452,020 610,945 Loss on sale or write down of assets, net — (343 ) (343 ) Net (loss) income $ (20,975 ) $ 76,824 $ 55,849 Company's equity in net (loss) income $ (3,845 ) $ 41,382 $ 37,537

Property, net (Tables)

Property, net (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Real Estate [Abstract]
Components of property	Property, net consists of the following: September 30, December 31, Land $ 1,578,877 $ 1,607,590 Buildings and improvements 6,412,728 6,511,741 Tenant improvements 613,854 622,878 Equipment and furnishings 184,379 177,036 Construction in progress 342,539 289,966 9,132,377 9,209,211 Less accumulated depreciation (1,967,728 ) (1,851,901 ) $ 7,164,649 $ 7,357,310
Assets measured on a nonrecurring basis	The following table summarizes certain of the Company's assets that were measured on a nonrecurring basis as a result of impairment charges recorded for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 as described above: Total Fair Value Measurement Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets Significant Other Unobservable Inputs Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 1) (Level 2) (Level 3) 2017 $ 11,500 $ — $ 11,500 $ — 2016 $ 66,000 $ — $ — $ 66,000
Quantitative information on level 3 real estate	The following table sets forth quantitative information about the unobservable inputs of the Company’s Level 3 real estate recorded as of September 30, 2016 : Terminal capitalization rate 7.0% - 8.0% Discount rate 8.0% - 9.5% Market rents per square foot $5.75 - $20.00

Deferred Charges and Other As32

Deferred Charges and Other Assets, net (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Schedule of deferred charges and other assets, net	Deferred charges and other assets, net consist of the following: September 30, December 31, Leasing $ 232,443 $ 239,983 Intangible assets: In-place lease values 112,994 140,437 Leasing commissions and legal costs 27,621 32,384 Above-market leases 171,156 181,851 Deferred tax assets 44,964 38,301 Deferred compensation plan assets 49,430 42,711 Other assets 59,358 72,206 697,966 747,873 Less accumulated amortization(1) (258,471 ) (269,815 ) $ 439,495 $ 478,058 (1) Accumulated amortization includes $75,818 and $88,785 relating to in-place lease values, leasing commissions and legal costs at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. Amortization expense of in-place lease values, leasing commissions and legal costs was $4,206 and $8,983 for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, and $15,755 and $26,033 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively.
Allocated values of above-market leases and below-market leases	The allocated values of above-market leases and below-market leases consist of the following: September 30, December 31, Above-Market Leases Original allocated value $ 171,156 $ 181,851 Less accumulated amortization (61,000 ) (57,505 ) $ 110,156 $ 124,346 Below-Market Leases(1) Original allocated value $ 128,750 $ 144,713 Less accumulated amortization (57,314 ) (58,400 ) $ 71,436 $ 86,313 (1) Below-market leases are included in other accrued liabilities.

Mortgage Notes Payable (Tables)

Mortgage Notes Payable (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Mortgage notes payable	Mortgage notes payable at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 consist of the following: Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes(1) September 30, 2017 December 31, 2016 Property Pledged as Collateral Related Party Other Related Party Other Effective Interest Rate(2) Monthly Debt Service(3) Maturity Date(4) Chandler Fashion Center(5) $ — $ 199,885 $ — $ 199,833 3.77 % $ 625 2019 Danbury Fair Mall 105,448 105,448 107,929 107,928 5.53 % 1,538 2020 Fashion Outlets of Chicago(6) — 199,218 — 198,966 2.90 % 457 2020 Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA — 113,534 — 115,762 4.89 % 727 2020 Freehold Raceway Mall(5)(7) — 217,379 — 220,643 4.20 % 1,132 2018 Fresno Fashion Fair — 323,208 — 323,062 3.67 % 971 2026 Green Acres Commons(8) — 107,446 — — 3.96 % 312 2021 Green Acres Mall — 293,004 — 297,798 3.61 % 1,447 2021 Kings Plaza Shopping Center — 449,709 — 456,958 3.67 % 2,229 2019 Northgate Mall(9) — — — 63,434 — — — Oaks, The — 197,875 — 201,235 4.14 % 1,064 2022 Pacific View — 125,136 — 127,311 4.08 % 668 2022 Queens Center — 600,000 — 600,000 3.49 % 1,744 2025 Santa Monica Place(10) — 215,508 — 219,564 2.99 % 1,004 2018 SanTan Village Regional Center — 125,470 — 127,724 3.14 % 589 2019 Stonewood Center(11) — 94,994 — 99,520 1.80 % 640 2017 Towne Mall — 21,266 — 21,570 4.48 % 117 2022 Tucson La Encantada 67,362 — 68,513 — 4.23 % 368 2022 Victor Valley, Mall of — 114,602 — 114,559 4.00 % 380 2024 Vintage Faire Mall — 265,195 — 269,228 3.55 % 1,256 2026 Westside Pavilion — 141,987 — 143,881 4.49 % 783 2022 $ 172,810 $ 3,910,864 $ 176,442 $ 3,908,976 (1) The mortgage notes payable balances include the unamortized debt premiums (discounts). Debt premiums (discounts) represent the excess (deficiency) of the fair value of debt over (under) the principal value of debt assumed in various acquisitions and are amortized into interest expense over the remaining term of the related debt in a manner that approximates the effective interest method. Debt premiums (discounts) consist of the following: Property Pledged as Collateral September 30, December 31, Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA $ 2,862 $ 3,558 Stonewood Center 246 2,349 $ 3,108 $ 5,907 The mortgage notes payable balances also include unamortized deferred finance costs that are amortized into interest expense over the remaining term of the related debt in a manner that approximates the effective interest method. Unamortized deferred finance costs were $12,810 and $12,716 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , respectively. (2) The interest rate disclosed represents the effective interest rate, including the debt premiums (discounts) and deferred finance costs. (3) The monthly debt service represents the payment of principal and interest. (4) The maturity date assumes that all extension options are fully exercised and that the Company does not opt to refinance the debt prior to these dates. These extension options are at the Company's discretion, subject to certain conditions, which the Company believes will be met. (5) A 49.9% interest in the loan has been assumed by a third party in connection with a co-venture arrangement (See Note 10 — Co-Venture Arrangement ). (6) The loan bears interest at LIBOR plus 1.50% and matures on March 31, 2020 . At September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 , the total interest rate was 2.90% and 2.43% , respectively. (7) On October 19, 2017 , the joint venture replaced the existing loan on the property with a new $400,000 loan that bears interest at 3.90% and matures on November 1, 2029 (See Note 19 — Subsequent Events ). (8) On September 29, 2017 , the Company placed a new $110,000 loan on the property that bears interest at LIBOR plus 2.15% and matures on March 29, 2021 . The loan can be expanded, depending on certain conditions, up to $130,000 . At September 30, 2017 , the total interest rate was 3.96% . (9) On January 18, 2017 , the loan was paid off in connection with the sale of the underlying property (See Note 14 — Dispositions ). (10) On October 13, 2017 , the Company entered into a loan commitment with a lender to replace the existing loan on the property with a new $300,000 five -year floating rate loan. The new loan is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Company expects to use the excess proceeds to pay down its line of credit (See Note 19 — Subsequent Events ). (11) On November 1, 2017 , the Company paid off the loan on the property (See Note 19 — Subsequent Events ).
Debt premiums (discounts) on mortgage notes payable	Debt premiums (discounts) consist of the following: Property Pledged as Collateral September 30, December 31, Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA $ 2,862 $ 3,558 Stonewood Center 246 2,349 $ 3,108 $ 5,907

Related Party Transactions (Tab

Related Party Transactions (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Schedule of fees charged to unconsolidated joint ventures	The following are fees charged to unconsolidated joint ventures: For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Management fees $ 4,749 $ 4,271 $ 13,914 $ 13,240 Development and leasing fees 3,385 2,952 11,376 10,149 $ 8,134 $ 7,223 $ 25,290 $ 23,389

Share and Unit-Based Plans (Tab

Share and Unit-Based Plans (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]
Compensation cost under the share and unit-based plans	The following summarizes the compensation cost under the share and unit-based plans: For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 LTIP Units $ 5,269 $ 5,204 $ 24,892 $ 27,752 Stock awards — — — 20 Stock units 1,002 965 4,947 5,339 Stock options 34 4 53 12 Phantom stock units 185 212 545 1,010 $ 6,490 $ 6,385 $ 30,437 $ 34,133
Summary of activity of non-vested LTIP Units, stock awards, phantom stock and stock units	The following table summarizes the activity of the non-vested LTIP Units, phantom stock units and stock units: LTIP Units Phantom Stock Units Stock Units Units Value(1) Units Value(1) Units Value(1) Balance at January 1, 2017 322,572 $ 58.18 5,845 $ 81.47 148,428 $ 78.53 Granted 506,906 55.33 8,439 68.34 86,426 66.47 Vested (134,742 ) 66.57 (8,166 ) 71.85 (80,804 ) 75.67 Forfeited — — — — (2,695 ) 69.57 Balance at September 30, 2017 694,736 $ 54.48 6,118 $ 76.20 151,355 $ 73.32 (1) Value represents the weighted average grant date fair value.
Summary of activity of SARs and stock options outstanding	The following table summarizes the activity of the stock appreciations rights ("SARs") and stock options outstanding: SARs Stock Options Units Value(1) Units Value(1) Balance at January 1, 2017 284,146 $ 53.85 10,565 $ 56.77 Granted — — 25,000 57.55 Exercised — — — — Balance at September 30, 2017 284,146 $ 53.85 35,565 $ 57.32 (1) Value represents the weighted average exercise price.

Income Taxes (Tables)

Income Taxes (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Schedule of income tax benefit of TRSs	The income tax provision of the TRSs are as follows: For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Current $ — $ (68 ) $ — $ (154 ) Deferred (2,869 ) (837 ) 178 (2,582 ) Income tax (expense) benefit $ (2,869 ) $ (905 ) $ 178 $ (2,736 )

Organization (Details)

Organization (Details) - entity	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Subsidiary of Limited Liability Company or Limited Partnership [Line Items]
Number of management companies (in entities)	7
The Macerich Partnership, L.P.
Subsidiary of Limited Liability Company or Limited Partnership [Line Items]
Ownership interest in operating partnership	93.00%	93.00%

Summary of Significant Accoun38

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Jan. 01, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-09				$ 6,484
Deferred tax assets	$ 44,964			38,301
Payment of debt extinguishment costs	0	$ (12,028)
Accumulated Deficit
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-09				6,484
ASU 2016-09
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Deferred tax assets			$ 6,484
ASU 2016-09 | Accumulated Deficit
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-09			$ 6,484
Operating Partnership
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets	371,030			376,445
Total liabilities	207,675			209,158
Operating Partnership | Property, net
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets	300,149			307,582
Operating Partnership | Other assets
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total assets	70,881			68,863
Operating Partnership | Mortgage notes payable
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total liabilities	130,403			133,245
Operating Partnership | Other liabilities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total liabilities	$ 77,272			$ 75,913

Earnings per Share ("EPS") (Det

Earnings per Share ("EPS") (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Numerator
Net income	$ 19,228	$ 13,196	$ 123,089	$ 514,005
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1,730)	534	(9,710)	(34,138)
Net income attributable to the Company	17,498	13,730	113,379	479,867
Allocation of earnings to participating securities	(193)	(170)	(567)	(586)
Numerator for basic and diluted EPS—net income attributable to common stockholders	$ 17,305	$ 13,560	$ 112,812	$ 479,281
Denominator
Denominator for basic EPS—weighted average number of common shares outstanding (in shares)	141,299,000	143,923,000	142,188,000	147,504,000
Effect of dilutive securities(1):
Share and unit-based compensation plans (in shares)	11,000	113,000	35,000	126,000
Denominator for diluted EPS—weighted average number of common shares outstanding (in shares)	141,310,000	144,036,000	142,223,000	147,630,000
Earnings per common share—net income attributable to common stockholders:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.12	$ 0.09	$ 0.79	$ 3.25
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.12	$ 0.09	$ 0.79	$ 3.25
Convertible non-participating preferred units
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Securities excluded from Diluted EPS (in shares)	90,619	138,759	90,619	138,759
Partnership unit
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Securities excluded from Diluted EPS (in shares)	10,324,376	10,666,565	10,479,806	10,773,029

Investments in Unconsolidated40

Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures - Narrative (Details) ft² in Thousands, $ in Thousands	Sep. 18, 2017USD ($)	Mar. 17, 2017USD ($)	Mar. 28, 2016USD ($)	Mar. 01, 2016USD ($)ft²	Jan. 14, 2016USD ($)ft²	Jan. 06, 2016USD ($)ft²	Sep. 30, 2017USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016USD ($)
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net							$ (11,854)	$ (19,321)	$ 37,234	$ 426,050
Joint Venture | Country Club Plaza
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²				1,001
Ownership percentage owned (percent)				50.00%
Purchase price				$ 660,000
Purchase price paid through assumption of debt by the Company			$ 320,000	$ 330,000
Effective interest rate			3.88%
Country Club Plaza | Office building
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Gain on sale of building		$ 2,290
Country Club Plaza | Joint Venture | Office building
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Proceeds from sale of building		78,000
Gain on sale of building		$ 4,580
Fashion District Philadelphia | Office building
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Gain on sale of building	$ 6,713
Fashion District Philadelphia | Joint Venture | Office building
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Proceeds from sale of building	61,500
Gain on sale of building	$ 13,426
Arrowhead Towne Center
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Ownership interest						40.00%
Property area (in square feet) | ft²						1,197
Proceeds from sale						$ 289,496
Cash proceeds from sale of business						129,496
Debt proceeds from sale of business						160,000
Arrowhead Towne Center | Joint Venture
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Ownership interest								40.00%		40.00%
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net						$ 101,629
MAC Heitman Portfolio | Joint Venture
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Ownership interest					49.00%			49.00%		49.00%
Proceeds from sale					$ 771,478
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net					340,734
Cash proceeds from sale of business					478,608
Debt proceeds from sale of business					$ 292,870
MAC Heitman Portfolio | Deptford Mall | Joint Venture
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²					1,040
MAC Heitman Portfolio | FlatIron Crossing | Joint Venture
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²					1,432
MAC Heitman Portfolio | Twenty Ninth Street | Joint Venture
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²					847

Investments in Unconsolidated41

Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures - Combined Condensed Balance Sheets of Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Assets:
Property, net	$ 9,058,868	$ 9,176,642
Other assets	655,905	614,607
Total assets	9,714,773	9,791,249
Liabilities and partners' capital:
Mortgage notes payable	5,311,238	5,224,713
Other liabilities	438,235	403,369
Company's capital	2,166,954	2,279,819
Outside partners' capital	1,798,346	1,883,348
Total liabilities and partners' capital	9,714,773	9,791,249
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Company's capital	2,166,954	2,279,819
Basis adjustment	(566,917)	(584,887)
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	1,600,037	1,694,932
Assets—Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	1,688,606	1,773,558
Liabilities—Distributions in excess of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	(88,569)	(78,626)
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	$ 1,600,037	$ 1,694,932

Investments in Unconsolidated42

Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures - Balance Sheet Footnotes (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Total assets	$ 9,714,773		$ 9,714,773		$ 9,791,249
Amortization of difference between cost of investments and book value of underlying equity	4,227	$ 4,988	12,451	$ 14,114
Northwestern Mutual Life (NML)
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Mortgage notes payable to affiliate	484,716		484,716		265,863
Interest expense on borrowings from related party	4,903	$ 2,775	12,992	$ 14,133
PPR Portfolio
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Total assets	3,120,534		3,120,534		3,179,255
Total liabilities	$ 1,878,719		$ 1,878,719		$ 1,887,952

Investments in Unconsolidated43

Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures - Combined Condensed Statements of Operations of Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Revenues:
Minimum rents	$ 158,715	$ 154,441	$ 474,564	$ 442,535
Percentage rents	4,856	5,345	9,671	10,824
Tenant recoveries	59,856	60,473	176,702	174,463
Other	14,042	12,684	40,998	39,315
Total revenues	237,469	232,943	701,935	667,137
Expenses:
Shopping center and operating expenses	70,985	71,232	211,537	202,560
Interest expense	50,104	48,814	148,760	139,087
Depreciation and amortization	88,407	97,121	264,454	269,298
Total operating expenses	209,496	217,167	624,751	610,945
(Loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net	13,426	(343)	17,970	(343)
Net (loss) income	41,399	15,433	95,154	55,849
Company's equity in net (loss) income	23,993	11,261	56,772	37,537
Pacific Premier Retail LLC
Revenues:
Minimum rents	35,052	33,332	100,633	95,389
Percentage rents	903	1,117	1,854	2,219
Tenant recoveries	12,015	11,933	34,827	35,828
Other	1,713	987	4,141	4,514
Total revenues	49,683	47,369	141,455	137,950
Expenses:
Shopping center and operating expenses	10,591	9,897	30,062	28,997
Interest expense	16,890	16,688	50,291	47,957
Depreciation and amortization	25,449	27,091	76,527	81,971
Total operating expenses	52,930	53,676	156,880	158,925
(Loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net	0	0	(35)	0
Net (loss) income	(3,247)	(6,307)	(15,460)	(20,975)
Company's equity in net (loss) income	620	(871)	(1,376)	(3,845)
Other Joint Ventures
Revenues:
Minimum rents	123,663	121,109	373,931	347,146
Percentage rents	3,953	4,228	7,817	8,605
Tenant recoveries	47,841	48,540	141,875	138,635
Other	12,329	11,697	36,857	34,801
Total revenues	187,786	185,574	560,480	529,187
Expenses:
Shopping center and operating expenses	60,394	61,335	181,475	173,563
Interest expense	33,214	32,126	98,469	91,130
Depreciation and amortization	62,958	70,030	187,927	187,327
Total operating expenses	156,566	163,491	467,871	452,020
(Loss) gain on sale or write down of assets, net	13,426	(343)	18,005	(343)
Net (loss) income	44,646	21,740	110,614	76,824
Company's equity in net (loss) income	$ 23,373	$ 12,132	$ 58,148	$ 41,382

Property, net - Components of p

Property, net - Components of property (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Real Estate [Abstract]
Land	$ 1,578,877	$ 1,607,590
Buildings and improvements	6,412,728	6,511,741
Tenant improvements	613,854	622,878
Equipment and furnishings	184,379	177,036
Construction in progress	342,539	289,966
Total	9,132,377	9,209,211
Less accumulated depreciation	(1,967,728)	(1,851,901)
Property, net	$ 7,164,649	$ 7,357,310

Property, net - Narrative (Deta

Property, net - Narrative (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jan. 18, 2017	May 31, 2016	Apr. 13, 2016	Jan. 14, 2016	Jan. 06, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciation expense						$ 69,343	$ 68,792	$ 207,663	$ 206,870
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net						11,854	$ 19,321	(37,234)	(426,050)
Adjustment to contingent consideration									$ (12,180)
Cascade and Northgate Malls
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposal	$ 59,698
Write down of investment								10,138
Arrowhead Towne Center
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Ownership interest					40.00%
Arrowhead Towne Center | Joint Venture
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net					$ (101,629)
Ownership interest							40.00%		40.00%
MAC Heitman Portfolio | Joint Venture
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net				$ (340,734)
Ownership interest				49.00%			49.00%		49.00%
Capitola Mall
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposal			$ 24,894
Former Mervyn's store
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposal		$ (3,066)
Southridge Center
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net						12,036		$ 12,036
Promenade at Casa Grande
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net						$ 23,335			$ 23,335
The Marketplace at Flagstaff Mall
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Gain on sale or write down of assets, net									$ 7,188

Property, net - Assets measured

Property, net - Assets measured on a nonrecurring basis (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets	$ 11,500	$ 66,000
Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) | Fair value measurements on a nonrecurring basis
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets	0	0
Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair value measurements on a nonrecurring basis
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets	11,500	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair value measurements on a nonrecurring basis
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets	$ 0	$ 66,000

Property, net - Quantitative in

Property, net - Quantitative information on level 3 real estate (Details)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016
Minimum
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Market rents per square foot	5.75
Minimum | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Terminal capitalization rate	7.00%
Discount rate	8.00%
Maximum
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Market rents per square foot	20
Maximum | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Terminal capitalization rate	8.00%
Discount rate	9.50%

Tenant and Other Receivables,48

Tenant and Other Receivables, net (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Mar. 17, 2014
Components of tenant and other receivables, net
Allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 2,559	$ 1,991
Deferred rent receivable due to straight-line rent adjustments	62,182	56,761
Accrued percentage rents
Components of tenant and other receivables, net
Accounts receivable	1,866	9,509
6.5% Note Receivable
Components of tenant and other receivables, net
Notes receivable	$ 6,245	$ 6,284	$ 6,500
Note receivable, interest rate			6.50%

Deferred Charges and Other As49

Deferred Charges and Other Assets, net - Schedule of deferred charges and other assets, net (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Leasing	$ 232,443		$ 232,443		$ 239,983
Intangible assets:
In-place lease values	112,994		112,994		140,437
Leasing commissions and legal costs	27,621		27,621		32,384
Above-market leases	171,156		171,156		181,851
Deferred tax assets	44,964		44,964		38,301
Deferred compensation plan assets	49,430		49,430		42,711
Other assets	59,358		59,358		72,206
Deferred charges and other assets, gross	697,966		697,966		747,873
Less accumulated amortization	(258,471)		(258,471)		(269,815)
Deferred charges and other assets, net	439,495		439,495		478,058
In-place lease values, leasing commissions and legal costs
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Accumulated amortization for intangible assets	75,818		75,818		$ 88,785
Amortization expense for intangible assets	$ 4,206	$ 8,983	$ 15,755	$ 26,033

Deferred Charges and Other As50

Deferred Charges and Other Assets, net - Allocated values of above-market leases and below-market leases (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Above-Market Leases
Above-Market Leases
Original allocated value	$ 171,156	$ 181,851
Less accumulated amortization	(61,000)	(57,505)
Allocated value net	110,156	124,346
Below-Market Leases
Below-Market Leases
Original allocated value	128,750	144,713
Less accumulated amortization	(57,314)	(58,400)
Allocated value net	$ 71,436	$ 86,313

Mortgage Notes Payable - Schedu

Mortgage Notes Payable - Schedule of Mortgage Notes Payable (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	$ 172,810	$ 176,442
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	3,910,864	3,908,976
Chandler Fashion Center
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 199,885	199,833
Effective interest rate	3.77%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 625
Danbury Fair Mall
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	105,448	107,929
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 105,448	107,928
Effective interest rate	5.53%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 1,538
Fashion Outlets of Chicago
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 199,218	198,966
Effective interest rate	2.90%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 457
Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 113,534	115,762
Effective interest rate	4.89%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 727
Freehold Raceway
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 217,379	220,643
Effective interest rate	4.20%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 1,132
Fresno Fashion Fair
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 323,208	323,062
Effective interest rate	3.67%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 971
Green Acres Commons
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 107,446	0
Effective interest rate	3.96%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 312
Green Acres Mall
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 293,004	297,798
Effective interest rate	3.61%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 1,447
Kings Plaza Shopping Center
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 449,709	456,958
Effective interest rate	3.67%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 2,229
Northgate Mall
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 0	63,434
Effective interest rate	0.00%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 0
Oaks, The
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 197,875	201,235
Effective interest rate	4.14%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 1,064
Pacific View
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 125,136	127,311
Effective interest rate	4.08%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 668
Queens Center
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 600,000	600,000
Effective interest rate	3.49%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 1,744
Santa Monica Place
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 215,508	219,564
Effective interest rate	2.99%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 1,004
SanTan Village Regional Center
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 125,470	127,724
Effective interest rate	3.14%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 589
Stonewood Center
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 94,994	99,520
Effective interest rate	1.80%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 640
Towne Mall
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 21,266	21,570
Effective interest rate	4.48%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 117
Tucson La Encantada
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	67,362	68,513
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 0	0
Effective interest rate	4.23%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 368
Victor Valley, Mall of
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 114,602	114,559
Effective interest rate	4.00%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 380
Vintage Faire Mall
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 265,195	269,228
Effective interest rate	3.55%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 1,256
Westside Pavilion
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Related Party	0	0
Carrying Amount of Mortgage Notes, Other	$ 141,987	$ 143,881
Effective interest rate	4.49%
Monthly Debt Service	$ 783

Mortgage Notes Payable - Premiu

Mortgage Notes Payable - Premiums and Discounts (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Debt premiums	$ 3,108	$ 5,907
Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Debt premiums	2,862	3,558
Stonewood Center
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Debt premiums	$ 246	$ 2,349

Mortgage Notes Payable - Footno

Mortgage Notes Payable - Footnotes (Details) - USD ($)	Oct. 13, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Oct. 19, 2017	Sep. 29, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Unamortized deferred finance costs		$ 12,810,000			$ 12,716,000
Freehold Raceway Mall and Chandler Fashion Center
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Percentage of loan assumed by third party		49.90%
Fashion Outlets of Chicago
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Interest rate spread over basis		1.50%
Effective interest rate					2.43%
Freehold Raceway | Subsequent event | Joint Venture
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
New loan on property			$ 400,000,000
Interest rate on debt			3.90%
Green Acres Commons
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Interest rate spread over basis		2.15%
New loan on property				$ 110,000,000
Loan expansion, up to				$ 130,000,000
Santa Monica Place | Subsequent event
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
New loan on property	$ 300,000,000
Debt term	5 years

Mortgage Notes Payable - Narrat

Mortgage Notes Payable - Narrative (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Interest expense capitalized	$ 3,428	$ 2,707	$ 9,405	$ 7,572
Fair value of mortgage notes payable	$ 4,112,364		$ 4,112,364		$ 4,126,819

Bank and Other Notes Payable (D

Bank and Other Notes Payable (Details) - USD ($)	Mar. 29, 2013	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Unamortized deferred finance costs		$ 12,810,000	$ 12,716,000
Line of Credit
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Revolving line of credit		$ 1,500,000,000
Extension option (years)		1 year
Maximum contingent borrowing capacity		$ 2,000,000,000
Outstanding borrowings under the line of credit		970,000,000	885,000,000
Unamortized deferred finance costs		$ 8,176,000	$ 10,039,000
Line of credit, average interest rate		3.01%	2.40%
Line of Credit | Level 2 measurement
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Fair value of outstanding line of credit		$ 960,233,000	$ 865,921,000
Line of Credit | LIBOR
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Interest rate spread over basis		1.45%
Line of Credit | LIBOR | Low end of range
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Interest rate spread over basis		1.30%
Line of Credit | LIBOR | High end of range
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Interest rate spread over basis		1.90%
Prasada Note
Mortgage loans payable on real estate
Amount of additional borrowing	$ 13,330,000
Interest rate on debt	5.25%
Debt, carrying value		$ 4,933,000	5,521,000
Debt, fair value		$ 5,067,000	$ 5,786,000

Co-Venture Arrangement (Details

Co-Venture Arrangement (Details) ft² in Thousands, $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2009USD ($)ft²	Sep. 30, 2017USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016USD ($)
Co-Venture Arrangement
Co-venture obligation | $		$ 59,118	$ 58,973
Freehold Raceway Mall and Chandler Fashion Center
Co-Venture Arrangement
Percentage of loan assumed by third party	49.90%
Co-venture obligation | $	$ 168,154
Freehold Raceway Mall
Co-Venture Arrangement
Property area (in square feet) | ft²	1,671
Chandler Fashion Center
Co-Venture Arrangement
Property area (in square feet) | ft²	1,318

Noncontrolling Interests (Detai

Noncontrolling Interests (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Aug. 20, 2014
Subsidiary of Limited Liability Company or Limited Partnership [Line Items]
Limited partnership interest of the operating partnership	7.00%	7.00%
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Number of trading days used to calculate redemption value	10 days
Redemption value of outstanding OP Units not owned by the Company	$ 555,597	$ 733,141
The Macerich Partnership, L.P.
Subsidiary of Limited Liability Company or Limited Partnership [Line Items]
Ownership interest in operating partnership	93.00%	93.00%

Stockholders' Equity (Details)

Stockholders' Equity (Details)	Jul. 11, 2016shares	May 09, 2016USD ($)shares	Apr. 19, 2016shares	Feb. 17, 2016USD ($)shares	Jan. 19, 2016shares	Nov. 12, 2015USD ($)shares	Oct. 30, 2015dividend$ / shares	Jul. 11, 2016$ / sharesshares	Apr. 19, 2016$ / sharesshares	Jan. 19, 2016$ / sharesshares	Sep. 30, 2017USD ($)$ / sharesshares	Feb. 12, 2017USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016$ / shares	Sep. 30, 2015USD ($)	Aug. 20, 2014USD ($)$ / shares
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Authorized repurchase amount		$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000						$ 500,000,000
Authorized amount for accelerated stock repurchase program		$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000
Accelerated shares repurchased (in shares) | shares	1,104,162	3,964,812	861,235	4,222,193	970,609	4,140,788		5,068,974	5,083,428	5,111,397
Average price per share paid for stock repurchased for accelerated stock repurchases (in dollars per share) | $ / shares								$ 78.91	$ 78.69	$ 78.26
Total shares acquired (in shares) | shares											3,627,390
Total shares acquired											$ 221,428,000
Average cost of shares acquired (in dollars per share) | $ / shares											$ 61.01
Number of dividends declared | dividend							2
Dividend declared (in dollars per share) | $ / shares							$ 2
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares											$ 0.01		$ 0.01		$ 0.01
Maximum price of common stock available to be issued															$ 500,000,000
Commission percent to sales agent															2.00%
PPR Portfolio | PPR Portfolio
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Ownership interest						40.00%
2015 Stock Buyback Program
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Authorized repurchase amount														$ 1,200,000,000

Acquisitions - Narrative (Detai

Acquisitions - Narrative (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Aug. 19, 2016	Oct. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2016
Acquisition
Contingent consideration			$ (12,180)
Fashion Outlets of Chicago | Joint Venture
Acquisition
Purchase price		$ 69,987
Purchase price funded by cash payment on acquisition		55,867
Purchase price paid through assumption of debt by the Company		$ 14,120
Contingent consideration	$ 23,800

Dispositions (Details)

Dispositions (Details) ft² in Thousands, $ in Thousands	Jan. 18, 2017USD ($)ft²	Jul. 15, 2016USD ($)ft²	May 31, 2016USD ($)	Apr. 13, 2016USD ($)ft²	Sep. 30, 2017USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016USD ($)
Discontinued Operations:
Gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt, net					$ 0	$ 1,709
Flagstaff Mall
Discontinued Operations:
Gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt, net		$ 5,284
Capitola Mall
Discontinued Operations:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²				586
Proceeds from sale				$ 93,000
Gain (loss) on disposal				$ 24,894
Mervyn's
Discontinued Operations:
Proceeds from sale			$ 3,200
Gain (loss) on disposal			$ (3,066)
Flagstaff Mall
Discontinued Operations:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²		347
Cascade Mall
Discontinued Operations:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²	589
Northgate Mall
Discontinued Operations:
Property area (in square feet) | ft²	750
Cascade and Northgate Malls
Discontinued Operations:
Proceeds from sale	$ 170,000
Gain (loss) on disposal	$ 59,698

Commitments and Contingencies (

Commitments and Contingencies (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Operating lease rent expense	$ 2,589,000	$ 2,395,000	$ 7,757,000	$ 7,312,000
Contingent rent	0	$ 0		$ 0
Contingent liability under letters of credit	60,927,000		60,927,000
Outstanding obligations under construction agreements	$ 62,609,000		$ 62,609,000

Related Party Transactions - Sc

Related Party Transactions - Schedule of fees charged to unconsolidated joint ventures (Details) - Unconsolidated Joint Ventures and Third Party Managed Properties - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Management fees	$ 4,749	$ 4,271	$ 13,914	$ 13,240
Development and leasing fees	3,385	2,952	11,376	10,149
Fees charged to unconsolidated joint ventures	$ 8,134	$ 7,223	$ 25,290	$ 23,389

Related Party Transactions - Na

Related Party Transactions - Narrative (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense, related party	$ 2,175	$ 2,224	$ 6,567	$ 6,752
Due from affiliates	81,184		81,184		$ 68,227
Related parties note receivable, RED Consolidated Holdings, LLC
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Due from affiliates	$ 4,998		$ 4,998		5,593
Note receivable, interest rate	5.25%		5.25%
Interest income, related party	$ 66	81	$ 204	294
Northwestern Mutual Life (NML)
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense payable, related party	721		721		736
Unconsolidated Joint Ventures
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Due from affiliates	4,905		4,905
Due to affiliates					(6,809)
Affiliated Entity | Notes Receivable | Fashion Outlets of San Francisco
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest income, related party	621	$ 583	1,839	$ 1,629
Note receivable	$ 71,281		$ 71,281		$ 69,443
Affiliated Entity | Notes Receivable | Fashion Outlets of San Francisco | LIBOR
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Note receivable, interest rate	2.00%		2.00%

Share and Unit-Based Plans - Na

Share and Unit-Based Plans - Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	Jun. 01, 2017$ / sharesshares	May 30, 2017$ / sharesshares	Mar. 03, 2017$ / sharesshares	Jan. 01, 2017$ / sharesshares	Sep. 30, 2017USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017USD ($)$ / sharesshares	Sep. 30, 2016USD ($)
Share and unit-based plans
Capitalized share and unit-based compensation costs | $					$ 983	$ 750	$ 5,278	$ 6,490
Stock units
Share and unit-based plans
Conversion rate of shares							1
Granted (in shares) | shares							86,426
Average grant date fair value (in dollars per share)							$ 66.47
Unrecognized compensation cost of share and unit-based plans | $					4,338		$ 4,338
LTIP Units
Share and unit-based plans
Conversion rate of shares							1
Granted (in shares) | shares							506,906
Average grant date fair value (in dollars per share)							$ 55.33
Risk free rate	1.45%			1.49%
Volatility	21.40%			20.75%
Unrecognized compensation cost of share and unit-based plans | $					5,554		$ 5,554
LTIP Units | LTIP units that vest in equal installments over a service period ending December 31, 2016
Share and unit-based plans
Granted (in shares) | shares	1,522			66,079
Average grant date fair value (in dollars per share)	$ 58.31			$ 70.84
LTIP Units | Market-Indexed LTIP units that vest in equal installments over a service period ending December 31, 2016
Share and unit-based plans
Granted (in shares) | shares	6,714			297,849
Average grant date fair value (in dollars per share)	$ 39.66			$ 47.15
LTIP Units | LTIP units that are fully vested on the grant date
Share and unit-based plans
Granted (in shares) | shares			134,742
Average grant date fair value (in dollars per share)			$ 66.57
Non-qualified stock options
Share and unit-based plans
Granted (in shares) | shares		25,000
Average grant date fair value (in dollars per share)		$ 10.02
Risk free rate		2.08%
Volatility		30.19%
Dividend yield		4.93%
Current value (in dollars per share)		$ 57.55
Expected term		8 years
Stock options
Share and unit-based plans
Unrecognized compensation cost of share and unit-based plans | $					208		$ 208
Phantom stock units
Share and unit-based plans
Granted (in shares) | shares							8,439
Average grant date fair value (in dollars per share)							$ 68.34
Unrecognized compensation cost of share and unit-based plans | $					$ 466		$ 466

Share and Unit-Based Plans - Co

Share and Unit-Based Plans - Compensation Cost (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Share and unit-based plans
Compensation cost under share and unit-based plans	$ 6,490	$ 6,385	$ 30,437	$ 34,133
LTIP Units
Share and unit-based plans
Compensation cost under share and unit-based plans	5,269	5,204	24,892	27,752
Stock awards
Share and unit-based plans
Compensation cost under share and unit-based plans	0	0	0	20
Stock units
Share and unit-based plans
Compensation cost under share and unit-based plans	1,002	965	4,947	5,339
Stock options
Share and unit-based plans
Compensation cost under share and unit-based plans	34	4	53	12
Phantom stock units
Share and unit-based plans
Compensation cost under share and unit-based plans	$ 185	$ 212	$ 545	$ 1,010

Share and Unit-Based Plans - No

Share and Unit-Based Plans - Nonvested Equity Awards (Details)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017$ / sharesshares
LTIP Units
Units
Balance at beginning of period (in shares) | shares	322,572
Granted (in shares) | shares	506,906
Vested (in shares) | shares	(134,742)
Forfeited (in shares) | shares	0
Balance at end of period (in shares) | shares	694,736
Value
Balance at beginning of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 58.18
Granted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	55.33
Vested (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	66.57
Forfeited (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	0
Balance at end of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 54.48
Phantom Stock Units
Units
Balance at beginning of period (in shares) | shares	5,845
Granted (in shares) | shares	8,439
Vested (in shares) | shares	(8,166)
Forfeited (in shares) | shares	0
Balance at end of period (in shares) | shares	6,118
Value
Balance at beginning of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 81.47
Granted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	68.34
Vested (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	71.85
Forfeited (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	0
Balance at end of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 76.20
Stock Units
Units
Balance at beginning of period (in shares) | shares	148,428
Granted (in shares) | shares	86,426
Vested (in shares) | shares	(80,804)
Forfeited (in shares) | shares	(2,695)
Balance at end of period (in shares) | shares	151,355
Value
Balance at beginning of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 78.53
Granted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	66.47
Vested (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	75.67
Forfeited (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	69.57
Balance at end of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 73.32

Share and Unit-Based Plans - SA

Share and Unit-Based Plans - SARs (Details)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017$ / sharesshares
SARs
Units
Balance at beginning of period (in shares) | shares	284,146
Granted (in shares) | shares	0
Exercised (in shares) | shares	0
Balance at end of period (in shares) | shares	284,146
Value
Balance at beginning of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 53.85
Granted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	0
Vested (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	0
Balance at end of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 53.85
Stock Options
Units
Balance at beginning of period (in shares) | shares	10,565
Granted (in shares) | shares	25,000
Exercised (in shares) | shares	0
Balance at end of period (in shares) | shares	35,565
Value
Balance at beginning of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 56.77
Granted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	57.55
Exercised (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	0
Balance at end of period (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 57.32

Income Taxes (Details)

Income Taxes (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Current	$ 0	$ (68)	$ 0	$ (154)
Deferred	(2,869)	(837)	178	(2,582)
Income tax (expense) benefit	(2,869)	$ (905)	178	$ (2,736)
Net deferred tax assets	$ 44,964		$ 44,964		$ 38,301

Subsequent Events (Details)

Subsequent Events (Details) - USD ($)	Nov. 02, 2017	Oct. 24, 2017	Oct. 13, 2017	Oct. 30, 2015	Oct. 19, 2017
Subsequent events
Dividend declared (in dollars per share)				$ 2
Subsequent event
Subsequent events
Dividend declared (in dollars per share)		$ 0.74
Subsequent event | Santa Monica Place
Subsequent events
New loan on property			$ 300,000,000
Debt term			5 years
Subsequent event | Inland Center
Subsequent events
New loan on property	$ 88,000,000
Debt term	10 years
Subsequent event | Joint Venture | Freehold Raceway Mall
Subsequent events
New loan on property					$ 400,000,000
Interest rate on debt					3.90%