Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies Revision of prior period amounts for Montvale Center (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Feb. 20, 2013 Montvale Center [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Montvale Center [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 As Revised [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 As Revised [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 As Reported [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 As Reported [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Amount of debt extinguished						$ 25,000,000
Gain on forgiveness of debt from discontinued operations	0	0	20,736,000	0	20,700,000	18,400,000
Total revenue	574,082,000	466,680,000	1,566,834,000	1,376,448,000			466,680,000	1,376,448,000	470,904,000	1,389,028,000
Income from continuing operations	84,947,000	66,016,000	636,078,000	219,197,000			66,016,000	219,197,000	68,147,000	225,430,000
Discontinued Operations	1,078,000	1,550,000	5,597,000	5,596,000			1,550,000	44,041,000	0	57,690,000
Net income attributable to Boston Properties Limited Partnership	$ 174,140,000	$ 66,234,000	$ 740,252,000	$ 259,337,000			$ 66,234,000	$ 259,337,000	$ 66,815,000	$ 279,219,000
Income attributable to Boston Properties Limited Partnership per unit-basic	$ 1.03	$ 0.39	$ 4.36	$ 1.55			$ 0.39	$ 1.55	$ 0.40	$ 1.67
Income attributable to Boston Properties Limited Partnership per unit-diluted	$ 1.02	$ 0.39	$ 4.35	$ 1.54			$ 0.39	$ 1.54	$ 0.39	$ 1.66