HC Government Realty doubles board size

HC Government Realty Trust Inc. has added four independent members to its board, more than doubling its number of directors as it continues a bid to become a public company.

The Sarasota-based real estate investment trust, which focuses on acquiring government-occupied commercial properties, added First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. CFO Scott Musil; former Walmart Stores CEO William R. Fields; former MillerCoors LLC CEO Leo Kiely; and O'Reilly Law Group chairman and CEO John F. O'Reilly to its board.

The four new directors join HC Government CEO Edwin Stanton, company treasurer Philip Kurlander and secretary Robert Kaplan on the board.

Stanton says the company will likely keep its board to seven members for the foreseeable future.

To date, HC Government has raised total equity of $18.5 million, through the sale of common stock, contribution of equity and the generation of preferred equity raised in the first half of last year.

The company intends eventually to apply to have its common stock listed on the OTCQX Marketplace by the OTC Markets Group Inc.

Stanton says HC Government hopes to complete a $30 million initial public offering within the next 12 months. In the meantime, the company is acquiring assets nationwide.

“We want to look as much like a fully public company as possible,” Stanton says. “And these additions give us more horsepower than most companies our size could expect to have.

“These are some big names, and we believe that gives us credibility but also makes us more appealing for investors.”