fr-20210225
0000921825false0001033128false8K2/25/20211 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4200Chicago60606Illinois312344-430000009218252021-02-252021-02-250000921825fr:FirstIndustrialL.P.Member2021-02-252021-02-25

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

FORM 8-K
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Current Report
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
February 25, 2021 (February 25, 2021)
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.
FIRST INDUSTRIAL, L.P.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.Maryland1-1310236-3935116
First Industrial, L.P.Delaware333-2187336-3924586
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
 (Commission
File Number)
 (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

1 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4200
Chicago, Illinois 60606
(Address of principal executive offices, zip code)

(312344-4300
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $.01 per shareFRNew York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐



Item 5.02: Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Election of a Director
On February 25, 2021, upon the recommendation of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee, the Board of Directors (the "Board") elected Marcus Smith to serve as a director of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (the "Company") until the Company's 2021 annual meeting of stockholders and appointed Mr. Smith to serve on the Investment Committee and the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. Effective upon his appointment, Mr. Smith became eligible to receive the standard compensation provided by the Company to its other non-employee directors, as most recently disclosed in the Company's proxy statement for its 2020 annual meeting of stockholders.
2021 Employee Bonus Plan
On February 25, 2021, the Board ratified criteria proposed by its Compensation Committee to be used in establishing an incentive bonus pool from which awards may be granted to the Company’s employees, including its chief executive officer and certain other senior executive officers, under the Company’s incentive compensation plan (the “2021 Employee Bonus Plan”). Awards under the 2021 Employee Bonus Plan will be based on certain identified thresholds of four performance categories. The categories are (i) funds from operations (“FFO”) per share (using the NAREIT definition), as FFO may be adjusted by the Compensation Committee in its discretion to exclude the effects of changes in accounting policy and certain extraordinary items, (ii) same store net operating income (“SS NOI”) growth, (iii) fixed charge coverage ratio and (iv) discretionary objectives (based on financial and non-financial goals determined by the Company’s chief executive officer). The Compensation Committee has assigned weighting factors to each of the performance categories, such that performance in certain categories will have a more pronounced impact on the bonus pool under the 2021 Employee Bonus Plan than will performance in other categories. The Compensation Committee has assigned a 50% weighting factor to the FFO per share category, a 25% weighting factor to the SS NOI growth category, a 10% weighting factor to the fixed charge coverage ratio category and a 15% weighting factor to the discretionary objectives category.
The Compensation Committee has also established performance targets and thresholds relating to each performance category. Achievement of specified thresholds with respect to each performance category will result in an increase in the incentive pool from which awards may be granted under the 2021 Employee Bonus Plan. Achievement by the Company of specifically identified levels of performance with respect to each performance category will result in funding of the incentive pool for the 2021 Employee Bonus Plan of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% or 125%, respectively, of the bonus opportunity associated with that performance category. Should performance fall between two identified payout levels, the resulting compensation that may be earned for such performance will be prorated based on linear interpolation.
Item 7.01: Regulation FD Disclosure.
On February 25, 2021, the Company issued a press release with respect to the election of Mr. Smith as a director of the Company. A copy of the press release is attached and incorporated by reference as Exhibit 99.1.
The information furnished in this report under this Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1 attached hereto, shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference to such filing.



Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
    (d) Exhibits. The following exhibits are filed herewith:
Exhibit No.Description
104Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)





SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.
By:/s/    JENNIFER MATTHEWS RICE
 Jennifer Matthews Rice
General Counsel
FIRST INDUSTRIAL, L.P.
By:FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.
as general partner
By:/s/    JENNIFER MATTHEWS RICE
 Jennifer Matthews Rice
General Counsel

Date: February 25, 2021

Document

https://cdn.kscope.io/d5c68e665bb74d611eba6b961e52bc04-g759391g54o921.jpg

First Industrial Realty Trust Announces
Appointment of Marcus L. Smith to Its Board of Directors

CHICAGO, February 25, 2021 – First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR), a leading fully integrated owner, operator, and developer of industrial real estate, announced today that Marcus L. Smith has been appointed to its board of directors and will serve as a member of its investment and nominating/corporate governance committees.

Mr. Smith is a director of MCSI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. Mr. Smith was most recently the Director of Equity (Canada) and a portfolio manager at MFS Investment Management (“MFS”) until his retirement in April 2017. He was responsible for managing the MFS Institutional International Equity Portfolio and the International Concentrated Portfolio. During his tenure at MFS which began in 1994, he held a variety of positions, including Director of Equity (Asia) from 2010 to 2012, Director of Asian Research from 2005 to 2009, and Equity Analyst from 1995 to 2000.

Matthew S. Dominski, chairman of the board of directors of First Industrial, said, "We are excited to welcome Marcus to our board. Our company and our shareholders will benefit from his expertise in investing and financial markets, along with his demonstrated leadership in his business and philanthropic endeavors.”

Mr. Smith is also a trustee for certain Eaton Vance investment funds. He is a member of the Boston advisory board of the Posse Foundation and the Academic Advisory Committee for The Harvard Medical School. He previously served as a director of DCT Industrial Trust Inc. and as a trustee for the University of Mount Union. Mr. Smith holds a bachelor of science from the University of Mount Union and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

About First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR) is a leading fully integrated owner, operator, and developer of industrial real estate with a track record of providing industry-leading customer service to multinational corporations and regional customers. Across major markets in the United States, our local market experts manage, lease, buy, (re)develop, and sell bulk and regional distribution centers, light industrial, and other industrial facility types. In total, we own and have under development approximately 64.1 million square feet of industrial space as of December 31, 2020. For more information, please visit us at www.firstindustrial.com.

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Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We intend for such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, and are generally identifiable by use of the words "believe," "expect," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "seek," "target," "potential," "focus," "may," "will," "should" or similar words. Although we believe the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results will not materially differ. Factors which could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and future prospects include, but are not limited to: changes in national, international, regional and local economic conditions generally and real estate markets specifically; changes in legislation/regulation (including changes to laws governing the taxation of real estate investment trusts) local economic conditions generally and real estate markets specifically; changes in legislation/regulation (including changes to laws governing the taxation of real estate investment trusts) and actions of regulatory authorities; the uncertainty and economic impact of pandemics, epidemics or other public health emergencies or fear of such events, such as the recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); our ability to qualify and maintain our status as a real estate investment trust; the availability and attractiveness of financing (including both public and private capital) and changes in interest rates; the availability and attractiveness of terms of additional debt repurchases; our ability to retain our credit agency ratings; our ability to comply with applicable financial covenants; our competitive environment; changes in supply, demand and valuation of industrial properties and land in our current and potential market areas; our ability to identify, acquire, develop and/or manage properties on favorable terms; our ability to dispose of properties on favorable terms; our ability to manage the integration of properties we acquire; potential liability relating to environmental matters; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by our tenants; decreased rental rates or increased vacancy rates; higher-than-expected real estate construction costs and delays in development or lease-up schedules; potential natural disasters and other potentially catastrophic events such as acts of war and/or terrorism; litigation, including costs associated with prosecuting or defending claims and any adverse outcomes; risks associated with our investments in joint ventures, including our lack of sole decision-making authority; and other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed from time to time in our other Exchange Act reports and in our other public filings with the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our outlook only and speak only as of the date of this press release or the dates indicated in the statements. We assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements. For further information on these and other factors that could impact us and the statements contained herein, reference should be made to our filings with the SEC.


Contact: Art Harmon
Vice President, Investor Relations and Marketing
(312) 344-4320