Boston Properties is a Real estate investment trust or REIT that develops, owns, and manages office buildings. The firm makes money by reselling office properties that it acquires and develops. While its properties appreciate, BXP rents them to a diverse group of companies, largely concentrated in the Legal and Financial Services industries.

BXP owns 138 properties in just five areas of the United States: Midtown Manhattan, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Princeton, N.J. These are dense business centers with high barriers to entry for other firms, and Boston Properties has generated stable returns and a faster-than-average growth rate focusing on high-end properties in these markets. Office space makes up the vast majority of BXP's portfolio, but the company also owns two hotels, an industrial center, and a land bank in the Northeast with 10 million square feet of space for development.^[1]

Boston Properties, like other firms in the commercial real estate industry, has thus far avoided fallout from the subprime lending crisis that has decimated the residential housing market. However, the company's position in a few key economic centers ties it to the fiscal health of these cities, and an economic downturn could adversely affect BXP as there would be less demand for new office space and difficulties in developing and selling existing properties. Boston Properties' high-end clientele, however, would be among those best suited to weather a potential economic storm, and the firm's performance might remain strong despite a recession.

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