An Abbreviated History
HHF originated in 1980 with founding partners Larry Helber and Mark Hastert, as the planning division of Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo Architects (WATG). Richard Van Horn and Glenn Kimura then joined the firm and it became known as Helber Hastert Van Horn & Kimura, Planners (HHVH&K). HHVH&K and WATG’s offices were located in Waikīkī until 1986 when HHVH&K moved to its current offices in Pacific Guardian Center on Bishop Street in Downtown Honolulu. With Van Horn’s departure in 1987, the Company’s name changed to Helber Hastert & Kimura, Planners (HH&K). Thomas Fee joined WATG/HHVH&K in 1985, and became a Principal in 1990, and with the departure of Kimura in 1992, the Company’s name changed to Helber Hastert & Fee, Planners (HHF). In 1993, the Company incorporated under the name of Helber Hastert & Fee, Planners, Inc., a Hawai‘i Corporation, and currently does business in Hawai‘i under the name Helber Hastert & Fee, Planners or “HHF Planners.” The Company operated a satellite office in Singapore between 1992 and 1997 headed by Kevin Young. Larry Helber retired in 2001 and Mark Hastert retired in 2003.
Dave Curry joined the Company in 1988 and became a Principal in 1999. Scott Ezer joined the company in 1989 and became a Principal in 2001. Richard Quinn joined the Company in 2000 and became a Principal in 2006. Wendie McAllaster joined the firm in 1996 and became a Principal in 2014. Dave Curry retired in 2019. George “Rob” James and Dane Sjoblom became Principal in 2021. The six Principals are shareholders and Board Members of the Corporation: with Fee as President; and Ezer, Quinn, McAllaster, James and Sjoblom as Vice Presidents.
The Logo
The HHF Planners’ mountains-to-the-sea logo is inspired by the Hawaiian system of land tenure in which the divisions of each island — ahupua‘a — offered a variety of soils, of elevations, climate, hydrology, and plant and animal life that provided for virtually every need of its residents. This consideration of environmental, economic, and social factors for sustainability was a forerunner of contemporary land planning.