UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE
14A
(Rule
14a-101)
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. )
Filed by the Registrant ☐
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☒
Check the appropriate box:
| ☐ | Preliminary Proxy Statement |
| ☐ | Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
| ☐ | Definitive Proxy Statement |
| ☐ | Definitive Additional Materials |
| ☒ | Soliciting Material Under § 240.14a-12 |
FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.
|
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
|
| |
LAND & BUILDINGS CAPITAL GROWTH FUND, LP
L&B GP LP
L&B GP LLC
L&B OPPORTUNITY FUND, LLC
CAMELOT LLC
LAND & BUILDINGS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
JONATHAN LITT
|
(Name of Persons(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
|
Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):
| ☐ | Fee paid previously with preliminary materials |
| ☐ | Fee computed on table in exhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11 |
Land & Buildings Investment
Management, LLC (“L&B Management”), together with the other participants named herein, intends to file a preliminary proxy
statement and accompanying universal proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to be used to solicit
votes for the election of its highly qualified director nominee at the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”)
of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”).
Item 1: On February 26, 2026,
L&B Management issued the following press release:
Land & Buildings Issues Letter Detailing Why
Change Is Needed at First Industrial Realty Trust
Board Has Repeatedly Refused to Collaboratively
Engage With Shareholders
Company Has Persistently Failed to Achieve Its
Potential, Consistently Trading at a Discount to NAV and to Its Closest Peers
Urges the Board to Take Steps Immediately for FR
to Maximize Value for All Shareholders
Discloses Nomination of Land & Buildings Founder
and CIO as Director Candidate for Election to the Board at the FR 2026 AGM
Stamford, CT (February 26, 2026) – Today, Land & Buildings
Investment Management, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Land & Buildings,” “L&B,” “us”
or “we”), a shareholder of First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE: FR) (“First Industrial,” “FR” or the
“Company”), issued a letter to shareholders detailing the insular boardroom culture at the Company and why meaningful change
is needed.
The full text of the letter is below:
Dear fellow First Industrial Shareholders,
Our engagement with First Industrial since our public presentation
in early December 2025 has revealed an insular boardroom culture focused on prioritizing entrenchment rather than maximizing shareholder
value. At every turn, we have found that this Board of Directors (the “Board”), led by Chairman Matt Dominski, has chosen
to protect the status quo at all costs. The Board intends to nominate two directors with more than 15 years of tenure based on our understanding,
has left a vacancy from a director’s passing nearly a year ago unfilled, and has refused to engage collaboratively with us on adding
directors respected by the investment community.
FR trades at a mid-6% implied cap rate on market rents, while its closest
peers, Prologis (NYSE: PLD) and EastGroup (NYSE: EGP), trade in the low 5% range, a valuation spread of over 100 basis points.1
Our estimated NAV remains $73 per share, as set forth in more detail in our December 2025 presentation,
representing ~20% additional upside to the current share price.
1 Bloomberg; Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings.
Management Has Failed to Deliver Value for Shareholders
The track record under this Board’s oversight is deeply disappointing.
FR management's and the Board's actions have led shares of FR to trade at a persistent and consistent discount to NAV and at a significant
discount to its closest peers.
The table below compares FR’s total shareholder return to the Company’s
own proxy compensation peers, the very companies the Board selected to benchmark management pay:

Source: Bloomberg, Company SEC Filings; Note: Data
as of December 3, 2025, the day prior to Land and Buildings’ public presentation. Performance of the Proxy Peer Group Companies
represents weighted average of Proxy Peer Group Companies in the 2025 Proxy Statement.
FR has underperformed its proxy compensation peers by 17% over the trailing
four-year period and 4% over the trailing three-year period. These are meaningful shortfalls against the very peer group selected by the
Board’s Compensation Committee. Yet management continues to receive peer-level compensation for disappointing results. This is not
a portfolio problem, FR’s same-store NOI and FFO growth have been comparable to Prologis and EastGroup. It is clear to us that FR’s
underperformance is a governance and communication failure.
We strongly believe that a Board that has overseen this level of underperformance
has no business resisting refreshment. Shockingly, no director has been added to the FR Board in the past five years. If the incumbent
Board could not consistently deliver superior returns over 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, why should shareholders trust them to realize the
~20% upside to NAV going forward and close the valuation discount to its closest peers?
Steps to Generate Value
We urge the Board to take the following actions immediately:
| · | Publicly commit to a plan to close the NAV discount with specific milestones
and timelines. |
| · | Initiate a $500M–$1B asset disposition program with proceeds returned
to shareholders. |
| · | Schedule an investor day with property tours within 90 days. |
| · | Authorize a formal exploration of strategic alternatives if the discount
does not narrow within six months. |
| · | Immediately refresh the Board: Mr. Dominski and Mr. Hackett should not stand
for re-election, and their seats, along with the vacancy created following Mr. Rau’s passing, must be filled with directors experienced
in capital allocation and REIT value creation. |
Constructive engagement requires a willing partner and to date, we have
not found one in FR. Our preference would be to work together with FR to realize value for all shareholders. However, based on FR’s
track record, we believe that we need to keep open all options available to us as shareholders – which is why Land & Buildings
has nominated me, Jonathan Litt, as a director candidate for election to the Board at the Company’s 2026 annual meeting of shareholders.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Litt
Land & Buildings Investment Management, LLC
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PARTICIPANTS
Land & Buildings intends to file a preliminary
proxy statement and accompanying universal proxy card with the SEC to be used to solicit votes for the election of its director nominee
at the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders of First Industrial.
LAND & BUILDINGS STRONGLY ADVISES ALL SHAREHOLDERS
OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
SUCH PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC’S WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN
THIS PROXY SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE PROXY STATEMENT WITHOUT CHARGE, WHEN AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST. REQUESTS FOR COPIES SHOULD
BE DIRECTED TO THE PARTICIPANTS’ PROXY SOLICITOR.
The participants in the proxy solicitation
are anticipated to be Land & Buildings Capital Growth Fund, LP (“L&B Capital”), L&B GP LP (“L&B GP”),
L&B GP LLC, L&B Opportunity Fund, LLC (“L&B Opportunity”), Camelot LLC (“Camelot”), Land & Buildings
Investment Management, LLC (“L&B Management”) and Jonathan Litt.
As of the date hereof, L&B Capital directly owns 121,543 shares of
common stock, par value $.01 per share, of the Company (the “Common Stock”). L&B GP, as the general partner of L&B
Capital, may be deemed to beneficially own the 121,543 shares of Common Stock owned by L&B Capital. L&B GP LLC, as the general
partner of L&B GP, may be deemed to beneficially own the 121,543 shares of Common Stock owned by L&B Capital. As of the date hereof,
L&B Opportunity directly owns 42,501 shares of Common Stock. As of the date hereof, Camelot directly owns 3,202 shares of Common Stock.
As of the date hereof, 734,629 shares of Common Stock were held in a certain account managed by L&B Management (the “Managed
Account”). L&B Management, as the investment manager of each of L&B Capital, L&B Opportunity and Camelot, and as the
investment advisor of the Managed Account, may be deemed to beneficially own the 901,875 shares of Common Stock directly owned by L&B
Capital, L&B Opportunity and Camelot and held in the Managed Account. Mr. Litt, as the managing principal of L&B Management, may
be deemed to beneficially own the 901,875 shares of Common Stock directly owned by L&B Capital, L&B Opportunity and Camelot and
held in the Managed Account.
Media Contact
Longacre Square Partners
landandbuildings@Longacresquare.com
Item 2: Also on February 26, 2026,
Jonathan Litt of L&B Management posted the following material to LinkedIn:

CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PARTICIPANTS
L&B Management (together
with its affiliates, “Land & Buildings”), a shareholder of the Company, intends to file a preliminary proxy statement
and accompanying universal proxy card with the SEC to be used to solicit votes for the election of its of director nominee at the Company’s
Annual Meeting.
LAND & BUILDINGS STRONGLY
ADVISES ALL SHAREHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL
CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC’S WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV.
IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS PROXY SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE PROXY STATEMENT WITHOUT CHARGE, WHEN AVAILABLE, UPON
REQUEST. REQUESTS FOR COPIES SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE PARTICIPANTS’ PROXY SOLICITOR.
The participants in the
proxy solicitation are anticipated to be Land & Buildings Capital Growth Fund, LP (“L&B Capital”), L&B GP LP (“L&B
GP”), L&B GP LLC, L&B Opportunity Fund, LLC (“L&B Opportunity”), Camelot LLC (“Camelot”), L&B
Management and Jonathan Litt.
As of the date hereof, L&B Capital directly owns
121,543 shares of common stock, par value $.01 per share, of the Company (the “Common Stock”). L&B GP, as the general
partner of L&B Capital, may be deemed to beneficially own the 121,543 shares of Common Stock owned by L&B Capital. L&B GP
LLC, as the general partner of L&B GP, may be deemed to beneficially own the 121,543 shares of Common Stock owned by L&B Capital.
As of the date hereof, L&B Opportunity directly owns 42,501 shares of Common Stock. As of the date hereof, Camelot directly owns 3,202
shares of Common Stock. As of the date hereof, 734,629 shares of Common Stock were held in a certain account managed by L&B Management
(the “Managed Account”). L&B Management, as the investment manager of each of L&B Capital, L&B Opportunity and
Camelot, and as the investment advisor of the Managed Account, may be deemed to beneficially own the 901,875 shares of Common Stock directly
owned by L&B Capital, L&B Opportunity and Camelot and held in the Managed Account. Mr. Litt, as the managing principal of L&B
Management, may be deemed to beneficially own the 901,875 shares of Common Stock directly owned by L&B Capital, L&B Opportunity
and Camelot and held in the Managed Account.