Rachel Hurst, who retired in December as Coronado’s Community Development Director, was awarded the San Diego Housing Federation’s John Craven Memorial Award during the 2018 Ruby Awards held at the Prado in Balboa Park on May 3. The Ruby Awards program is the largest event in the county recognizing leadership, innovation, and impact in the affordable housing and community development industries.
The John Craven Memorial Award honors Ms. Hurst’s commitment as a public employee who has taken risks and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to assist affordable housing developers. In her role as City of Coronado’s Director of Redevelopment and Housing Services, she led her team to rehabilitate and develop the City’s and Coronado Unified School District’s facilities and improvements such as the Village Theatre. The theater was closed for many years, and Rachel worked with an absentee landlord and movie theater operator to completely renovate and reopen the theater. Rachel served Coronado for more than 11 years, training and managing a team to support the community’s planning and building needs. There, she oversaw the development of the Coronado Senior Housing on Orange Avenue, and helped to acquire and rehabilitate other properties. She has also served as the Housing and Redevelopment Director for the City of La Mesa, where she helped to develop one of the first large-scale transit-oriented developments in San Diego, and was previously a planner for the cities of Simi Valley, San Diego, and Beverly Hills.
