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                                                                  Exhibit 23.1


                         INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT

The Board of Directors
Heritage Property Investment Trust, Inc.:

We consent to the incorporation by reference in the registration statement
(No. 333-97993) on Form S-8 of Heritage Property Investment Trust, Inc. and
subsidiaries (the Company) of our report dated January 31, 2003, except for
notes 11 and 16, as to which the date is March 3, 2003, with respect to the
consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2002 and 2001,
and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in
shareholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year
period ended December 31, 2002, which report appears in the December 31, 2002
annual report on Form 10-K of the Company.


/s/ KPMG LLP

Boston, Massachusetts
March 26, 2003