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EXHIBIT 31.1

CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Michael W. Brennan, certify that:



|1. |  | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of First Industrial
Realty Trust, Inc.;                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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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 financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in the report;                    
|  
|4. |  | The registrants other certifying officer(s) 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)) for the registrant
and have:                                                                            



| |  |  | a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision,
to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, 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) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant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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| |  |  | c) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal
control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrants
most recent fiscal quarter (the registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the
case of an annual report on Form 10-K) that has materially affected, or
is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal
control over financial reporting; and



|5. |  | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
reporting, to the registrants auditors and to the audit committee of the
registrants board of directors (or persons fulfilling the equivalent
function):
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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 registrant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 registrants internal control over
financial reporting.                                                                                               

Date: November 12, 2003

| |  |                                      
| |  | -------------------------------------
| |  | /s/ Michael W. Brennan               
| |  |                                      
| |  | Michael W. Brennan                   
| |  | President and Chief Executive Officer
| |  | First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.