Document And Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Nov. 02, 2017
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Registrant Name	BOSTON PROPERTIES INC
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0001037540
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		154,322,266
Boston Properties Limited Partnership
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Registrant Name	BOSTON PROPERTIES LTD PARTNERSHIP
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0001043121
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Non-accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		0