Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER

PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF

THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Dwight
L. Merriman III, certify that:



| | 1. | I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of DC Industrial Liquidating Trust (the Liquidating Trust);
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| | 2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
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| | 3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the net assets and changes in net assets under the liquidation basis of
accounting of the Liquidating Trust as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
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| | 4. | The Liquidating Trusts other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Liquidating Trust and have:
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| | a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under my supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the Liquidating Trust, including
its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | b. | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
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| | c. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the Liquidating Trusts disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
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| | d. | Disclosed in this report any change in the Liquidating Trusts internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Liquidating Trusts most recent fiscal year that has materially affected, or is
reasonably likely to materially affect, the Liquidating Trusts internal control over financial reporting; and
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| | 5. | This report discloses, based on the registrants other certifying officers and my most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting:
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| | a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Liquidating Trusts ability to
record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
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| | b. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Liquidating Trusts internal control over financial reporting.
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|March 4, 2016 |  | /s/    DWIGHT L. MERRIMAN III                                               
|              |  | Dwight L. Merriman III
Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)