Organization and Formation of Company

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Disclosure Organization And Formation Of Company Additional Information [Abstract]

Organization and Formation of Company

1. Organization and Formation of Company

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (the “Company”) was organized in the state of Maryland on August 10, 1993. The Company is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) as defined in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”). Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc., First Industrial, L.P. and their respective controlled subsidiaries. We refer to our operating partnership, First Industrial, L.P., as the “Operating Partnership.”

We began operations on July 1, 1994. Our operations are conducted primarily through the Operating Partnership, of which we are the sole general partner with an approximate 95.8% ownership interest at March 31, 2013, and through our taxable REIT subsidiaries. We also conduct operations through other partnerships and limited liability companies, the operating data of which, together with that of the Operating Partnership and the taxable REIT subsidiaries, is consolidated with that of the Company as presented herein. Noncontrolling interest of approximately 4.2% at March 31, 2013, represents the aggregate partnership interest in the Operating Partnership held by the limited partners thereof.

We also own noncontrolling equity interests in, and provide various services to, two joint ventures (the “2003 Net Lease Joint Venture” and the “2007 Europe Joint Venture” and, collectively, the “Joint Ventures”). The Joint Ventures are accounted for under the equity method of accounting. Accordingly, the operating data of our Joint Ventures is not consolidated with that of the Company as presented herein. The 2007 Europe Joint Venture does not own any properties. See Note 4 for more information on the Joint Ventures.

As of March 31, 2013, we owned 710 industrial properties located in 26 states in the United States and one province in Canada, containing an aggregate of approximately 63.2 million square feet of gross leasable area (“GLA”).