BXP's Q3 Income Jumps Year Over Year

BOSTON-Driven in part by a 23% gain in revenues, Boston Properties' third-quarter income more than doubled year over year from $57.2 million in Q3 to $152.7 million for the three months that ended Sept. 30. The REIT's Q3 funds from operations rose from $175.8 million the year prior to $197.8 million in the most recent full quarter.

Quarterly revenue reached $574 million, compared to the $511 million projected by analysts, according to the Wall Street Journal. For Q4, BXP is projecting FFO between $1.23 and $1.25 per share, while for 2014, it's offering guidance of $5.20 to $5.35 per share for the full year.

Subsequent to the end of Q3, BXP closed on the sale of a 45% ownership interest in its Times Square Tower property for $684 million in cash. On Tuesday, the company entered into a lease agreement with NRG Energy for a build-to-suit office project in Princeton, NJ, with a 2016 completion date targeted.

As of Sept. 30, BXP's portfolio ran to 177 properties, comprised primarily of class A office space, along with one hotel, three residential properties and four retail properties. Total square footage on the portfolio was about 44.6 million square feet, including eight properties under construction totaling 2.8 million square feet. The leased space across the portfolio averaged 92.8% occupancy, with the CBD properties in markets such as Boston, New York City and Washington, DC faring better than their suburban counterparts.

Additionally, the REIT has about 10.6 million developable square feet on land parcels located in the Boston, Washington, DC and San Francisco metropolitan areas. It also has options through 2018 to buy parcels in Princeton, NJ and Cambridge, MA totaling another two million developable square feet.