Document And Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Feb. 22, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
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		153,836,251
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float			$ 20,130,147,347
Boston Properties Limited Partnership
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
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
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes