pdub

First Industrial Realty: A REIT with an Attractive Risk/Reward

You neglect to highlight the major risk to FR's operating strategy, a heavy reliance on transactional volume to generate cash flow, evidenced by gains on sale ~14% of FFO in 1Q08. In an environment where transaction volume is slowing and development margins are tightening, this is a model I would prefer to avoid. Additionally FR owns arguably 2nd tier property entirely in the US (1 property in Canada, 0 in Europe at the moment), an industrial market looking susceptible to a slowdown. If you want to play in the industrial REIT space, look to AMB/PLD, global players with a stronger development pipeline & fund structure. (Full disclosure - I am long AMB/PLD).