Organization and Formation of Company

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Organization and Formation of Company [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 other 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, 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.

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”). During 2010, we provided various services to, and ultimately disposed of our equity interests in, five joint ventures (the “2005 Development/Repositioning Joint Venture,” the “2005 Core Joint Venture,” the “2006 Net Lease Co-Investment Program,” the “2006 Land/Development Joint Venture,” and the “2007 Canada Joint Venture;” together with the 2003 Net Lease Joint Venture and the 2007 Europe Joint Venture, 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 5 for more information on the Joint Ventures.

As of December 31, 2011, we owned 740 industrial properties located in 26 states in the United States and one province in Canada, containing an aggregate of approximately 66.3 million square feet of gross leasable area (“GLA”).

Any references to the number of buildings and square footage in the financial statement footnotes are unaudited.