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(Common Units) (Narrative) (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands						12 Months Ended
	Dec. 14, 2021 USD ($) shares	Feb. 05, 2021 USD ($) shares	Feb. 02, 2021 USD ($)	Feb. 06, 2020 USD ($) shares	Feb. 09, 2019 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) yr $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Vesting Period						4 years
Issuance of operating partnership units for 360 Park Avenue South \| $						$ 99,689	$ 0	$ 0
360 Park South Avenue
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Issuance of operating partnership units for 360 Park Avenue South \| $	$ 99,700
Boston Properties Limited Partnership
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest, Equity, Preferred, Carrying Amount \| $						2,078,603	1,643,024
Issuance of operating partnership units for 360 Park Avenue South \| $						$ 99,689	$ 0	$ 0
Boston Properties Limited Partnership \| 360 Park South Avenue
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Noncash or Part Noncash Acquisition, Noncash Financial or Equity Instrument Consideration, Shares Issued \| shares	866,503
MYLTIP \| Boston Properties Limited Partnership
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Vesting Period						3 years
Unvested MYLTIP Units [Member]
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
unvested MYLTIP distributions as compared to total distributions (percentage)						10.00%
MYLTIP 2016 [Member]
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Final awards percentage of target					69.50%
Value of MYLTIP Awards \| $					$ 13,600
Forfeitures, in units \| shares					364,980
MYLTIP 2017 [Member]
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Final awards percentage of target				83.80%
Value of MYLTIP Awards \| $				$ 17,600
Forfeitures, in units \| shares				270,942
MYLTIP 2018
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Final awards percentage of target		29.20%
Value of MYLTIP Awards \| $		$ 4,600
Forfeitures, in units \| shares		285,925
MYLTIP 2019 [Member] \| Boston Properties Limited Partnership
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Outstanding \| shares						219,916
MYLTIP 2020 [Member] \| Boston Properties Limited Partnership
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Outstanding \| shares						203,278
MYLTIP 2021
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Value of MYLTIP Awards \| $			$ 15,300
Vesting Period			3 years
MYLTIP 2021 \| Boston Properties Limited Partnership
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Outstanding \| shares						352,021
OP Units [Member]
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
OP Units for redemption (in shares) \| shares						523,969	856,811
Restriction on redemption of OP Unit to Common Stock (in years) \| yr						1
Redemption of OP Unit equivalent to Common Stock (in shares) \| shares						1
Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest, Equity, Preferred, Carrying Amount \| $						$ 2,100,000
Closing price of common stock (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares						$ 115.18
Noncontrolling Interest [Member]
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
Issuance of operating partnership units for 360 Park Avenue South \| $						$ 99,689
Vested 2012 OPP units and MYLTIPS
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Effects of Changes, Net [Line Items]
OP Units for redemption (in shares) \| shares						148,442	88,168