Selected Interim Financial Information (unaudited) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Two Grand Central Tower [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 As Reported [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 As Reported [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 As Reported [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 As Reported [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 As Reported [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 As Reported [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 As Reported [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 As Reported [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 As Revised [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 As Revised [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 As Revised [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 As Revised [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 As Revised [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 As Revised [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 As Revised [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Montvale Center [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Montvale Center [Member]
Selected Interim Financial Information [Line Items]
Mortgage notes payable	$ 3,102,485,000	$ 3,123,267,000																			$ 25,000,000
Gain on Forgivenss of Debt Excluding Noncontrolling Interest																				15,800,000
Noncontrolling Interests Portion of Gain on Forgivenss of Debt																				2,000,000
Total revenue	1,876,267,000	1,751,320,000	1,543,310,000		485,405,000	470,904,000	472,897,000	447,662,000	452,787,000	452,413,000	436,451,000	417,875,000	471,562,000	473,521,000	445,779,000	450,528,000	450,344,000	434,505,000	415,943,000
Income from continuing operations	294,222,000	311,945,000	186,151,000		76,608,000	66,103,000	97,471,000	56,359,000	115,443,000	80,451,000	69,738,000	48,194,000	65,522,000	96,899,000	55,193,000	115,006,000	79,942,000	69,353,000	47,644,000
Net income attributable to Boston Properties, Inc.	289,650,000	272,679,000	159,072,000		65,400,000	57,769,000	119,070,000	64,632,000	101,644,000	70,542,000	60,214,000	40,813,000	57,249,000	118,559,000	48,454,000	101,644,000	70,542,000	60,214,000	40,813,000
Income attributable to Boston Properties, Inc. per share - basic	$ 1.93	$ 1.87	$ 1.14		$ 0.43	$ 0.38	$ 0.79	$ 0.44	$ 0.69	$ 0.48	$ 0.41	$ 0.29	$ 0.38	$ 0.79	$ 0.33	$ 0.69	$ 0.48	$ 0.41	$ 0.29
Income attributable to Boston Properties, Inc. per share -diluted	$ 1.92	$ 1.86	$ 1.14		$ 0.43	$ 0.38	$ 0.79	$ 0.43	$ 0.69	$ 0.48	$ 0.41	$ 0.29	$ 0.38	$ 0.78	$ 0.33	$ 0.69	$ 0.48	$ 0.41	$ 0.29
Gain on sales of real estate				$ 46,200,000