Limited Partners' Equity of the Operating Partnership

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Preferred Units [Line Items]

Noncontrolling Interest Disclosure [Text Block]

Noncontrolling Interests of the Trust

Noncontrolling interests in the accompanying financial statements represent the interests of the common and preferred units in the Operating Partnership not held by the Trust. In addition, noncontrolling interests include third-party ownership interests in consolidated joint venture investments.

Common units

The common units outstanding of the Operating Partnership not held by the Trust as of March 31, 2012 have the same economic characteristics as common shares of the Trust. The 3,808,746 outstanding common units of the Operating Partnership not held by the Trust share proportionately in the net income or loss and in any distributions of the Operating Partnership. The common units of the Operating Partnership not held by the Trust are redeemable at any time at the option of the holder. The Trust, as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, may at its option elect to settle the redemption in cash or through the exchange on a one-for-one basis with unregistered common shares of the Trust. The market value of the 3,808,746 outstanding common units based on the closing price of the common shares of the Company at March 31, 2012 was $136.0 million.

Preferred units

The Trust had outstanding the following cumulative redeemable preferred units of the Operating Partnership (the “Equity Preferred Units”) as of March 31, 2012:

ISSUE	AMOUNT		UNITS	LIQUIDATION PREFERENCE		DIVIDEND RATE		REDEEMABLE AS OF	EXCHANGEABLE AFTER
	(in 000’s)
Series E	$	20,000	400		$50	7.00	%	6/16/2010	6/16/15 into Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust
Series F	$	17,500	350		$50	6.65	%	6/30/2010	12/12/15 into Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust
Series G	$	27,000	540		$50	6.70	%	12/15/2011	12/15/16 into Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust
Series H	$	100,000	4,000		$25	7.40	%	8/21/2012	8/21/17 into Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust

The Equity Preferred Units are callable at the Operating Partnership’s option after a stated period of time. The Trust as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership may at its option elect to settle the redemption for cash or through the exchange on a one-for-one basis with unregistered preferred shares of the Trust.

During the three months ended March 31, 2012, the Company redeemed $32.5 million of outstanding 6.65% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units for $26.0 million. Also, the Company redeemed $95.0 million of outstanding 7.45% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units at par. In connection with these redemptions, the Company recognized $3.7 million relating to the excess of preferred unit carrying amount over redemption price net of certain costs, which is included in Noncontrolling interest - operating partnership in the Trust's consolidated statements of income.

Liberty Property Limited Partnership [Member]

Preferred Units [Line Items]

Noncontrolling Interest Disclosure [Text Block]

Limited Partners' Equity of the Operating Partnership

Common units

General and limited partners' equity - common units relates to limited partnership interests of the Operating Partnership issued in connection with the formation of the Operating Partnership and certain subsequent acquisitions. The common units outstanding as of March 31, 2012 have the same economic characteristics as common shares of the Trust. The 3,808,746 outstanding common units are the limited partners' equity - common units held by persons and entities other than the Trust, the general partner of the Operating Partnership, which holds a number of common units equal to the number of outstanding common shares of beneficial interest. Both the common units held by the Trust and the common units held by persons and entities other than the Trust are counted in the weighted average number of common units outstanding during any given period. The common units share proportionately in the net income or loss and in any distributions of the Operating Partnership and are exchangeable into the same number of common shares of the Trust. The market value of the 3,808,746 outstanding common units at March 31, 2012 based on the closing price of the common shares of the Company at March 31, 2012 was $136.0 million.

Preferred units

The following are the Equity Preferred Units as of March 31, 2012:

ISSUE	AMOUNT		UNITS	LIQUIDATION PREFERENCE		DIVIDEND RATE		REDEEMABLE AS OF	EXCHANGEABLE AFTER
	(in 000's)
Series E	$	20,000	400		$50	7.00	%	6/16/2010	6/16/15 into Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust
Series F	$	17,500	350		$50	6.65	%	6/30/2010	12/12/15 into Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust
Series G	$	27,000	540		$50	6.70	%	12/15/2011	12/15/16 into Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust
Series H	$	100,000	4,000		$25	7.40	%	8/21/2012	8/21/17 into Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares of the Trust

The Equity Preferred Units are callable at the Operating Partnership's option after a stated period of time. The Trust as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership may at its option elect to settle the redemption for cash or through the exchange on a one-for-one basis with unregistered preferred shares of the Trust.

During the three months ended March 31, 2012, the Company redeemed $32.5 million of outstanding 6.65% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units for $26.0 million. Also, the Company redeemed $95.0 million of outstanding 7.45% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units at par. In connection with these redemptions, the Company recognized $3.7 million relating to the excess of preferred unit carrying amount over redemption price net of certain costs.