HHF Planners

What HHF Planners does

HHF Planners (legal name Helber Hastert & Fee, Planners, Inc.) is a Honolulu-headquartered professional services firm that delivers multidisciplinary planning, landscape architecture, and historic preservation services across eight integrated practice areas: Environmental Planning, Land Use Entitlements, Master Planning, Federal Planning, Multimodal Transportation Planning, Sustainability & Resilience Planning, Historic Preservation, and Landscape Architecture. Founded in 1980 as the planning division of WATG and incorporated independently in 1993, the firm has operated continuously for 40+ years, executing over 2,100 documented projects across five continents with concentrated delivery in Hawai'i and the broader Pacific region. Service delivery combines AICP-certified planners, LEED-accredited professionals, GIS analysts, and Secretary of Interior certified historians, integrating conventional GIS, cartography, and technical writing capabilities with culturally grounded planning rooted in the Hawaiian ahupua'a system.

The firm operates a fee-for-service professional services revenue model with quote-based project fees negotiated per engagement, deploying multidisciplinary teams to government and private sector clients. Federal government work—including NAVFAC Pacific, NAVFAC Atlantic, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu District, Department of Defense, and U.S. Department of the Interior—anchors the client base, supplemented by state and county engagements (City and County of Honolulu, County of Kaua'i, American Samoa Government, Kamehameha Schools) and private sector projects (Howard Hughes Corporation, Doris Duke Foundation, Diamond Head Theatre, University of Hawai'i). Projects are acquired through government contracting processes, RFPs, blanket purchase agreements, sole-source contracts, and direct client relationships rather than traditional sales channels.

With a 20-30 person staff led by partners Rob James (President), Dane Sjoblom, and John Hagihara, alongside Tom Fee, Rick Quinn, and Jerilyn Hanohano as additional Principals, the firm operates a relationship-driven GTM underpinned by professional reputation, recurring federal agency relationships, and a sustained record of 30+ industry awards from APA (Federal Planning Division and Hawai'i Chapter), ASLA, Historic Hawai'i Foundation, NAVFAC, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The marketing mix is minimal by design: a professional website portfolio, Instagram presence, industry conference participation (e.g., NPC mentor programs), and earned media through trade awards rather than paid acquisition.

Name

HHF Planners

Legal name

Helber Hastert & Fee, Planners, Inc.

Website

https://hhf.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

HHF Planners is a Honolulu-based multidisciplinary planning firm offering environmental planning, land use entitlements, master planning, federal planning, transportation, sustainability, historic preservation, and landscape architecture services to federal, state, and county government clients and private developers across Hawai'i and the Pacific region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental and Land Use Planning Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (54132), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC), Regional & Land Use Planning (BPAHAKAE)

Keywords

• Environmental planning services
• Land use entitlements
• Master planning
• Landscape architecture
• Historic preservation planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Honolulu

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Planning Services: Fee-for-service professional planning services including environmental planning, land use entitlements, master planning, federal planning, multimodal transportation planning, sustainability and resilience planning, historic preservation, and landscape architecture for government and private sector clients

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HHF Planners provides multidisciplinary professional planning and design services for federal, state, county, and private sector clients. The firm operates across eight integrated service areas: Environmental Planning (NEPA/HEPA review), Land Use Entitlements, Master Planning, Federal Planning, Multimodal Transportation Planning, Sustainability & Resilience Planning, Historic Preservation, and Landscape Architecture. Project work is delivered by teams of AICP, LEED AP, RLA, ASLA, and GISP-certified professionals and supported by in-house GIS, cartography, graphic design, and technical writing capabilities.

Product overview

HHF Planners is a premier environmental and land use planning firm based in Honolulu, Hawai'i with over 40 years of experience. The company operates as a single unified service offering centered on multidisciplinary planning services rather than a software platform. The core offering consists of eight integrated service areas: Environmental Planning, Land Use Entitlements, Master Planning, Federal Planning, Multimodal Transportation Planning, Sustainability & Resilience Planning, Historic Preservation, and Landscape Architecture. These services are delivered through multidisciplinary teams that combine planning expertise with landscape architecture, historic preservation, and sustainability specialists, serving public, private, and government clients throughout Hawai'i and the Pacific region. The firm also supports its planning services with GIS analysis, graphic design, and technical writing capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Environmental Planning Navigates clients through environmental review processes including State HRS 343 and Federal NEPA EIS and EA documentation for federal, state, county, and private sector clients, covering recreation and conservation areas, major developments, military facilities, and critical infrastructure projects.
• Land Use Entitlements Assists clients in obtaining land use permits and development approvals at federal, state, and county levels, including State Land Use District Boundary Amendments, Special Use Permits, Conservation District Use Permits, County Zone Changes, and Special Management Area permits.
• Master Planning Creates master plans articulating each client's long-term land use vision and objectives, with thorough analysis, prioritization and phasing rationale, and implementation strategies.
• Federal Planning Provides federal planning services in the Pacific Region including IDPs, ADPs, Master Plans, Regional and Shore Infrastructure Plans, Complete Project Documentation Packages, Functional Land Use and Optimization Studies, and NEPA/HEPA environmental documents.
• Multimodal Transportation Planning Delivers multimodal transportation planning including bike plans, Complete Streets, bike and pedestrian-oriented projects, and bikeshare station siting.
• Sustainability & Resilience Planning Helps communities achieve sustainability and resilience goals through community engagement, visioning sessions, data analysis, coastal resilience planning, and hazard mitigation plans.
• Historic Preservation Provides historic preservation planning, cultural landscape assessment, and cultural resource management including Preservation Plans, Cultural Resource Management Plans, Cultural Landscape Reports, and Historic American Landscapes Surveys.
• Landscape Architecture Provides landscape design services across residential, commercial, public sector, institutional design, and preservation and restoration, from conceptual design through construction documentation for landscape planting, irrigation, lighting, and water features.

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• U.S. Environmental Protection AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Hawai'i Bikeshare Planning project for Honolulu's first bikeshare system (Biki), with EPA providing funding and policy support for sustainable transportation initiatives
• Bikeshare Hawai'icoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for planning Honolulu's bikeshare system, with Bikeshare Hawai'i providing industry expertise and community coordination for the Biki program
• Hennebery Eddy ArchitectsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubconsultant partnership for Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park Remove & Replace Park Maintenance Facilities EA project
• Design Partners IncorporatedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrime consultant partnership for University of Hawai'i Community Colleges projects including Honolulu Community College Long Range Development Plan
• Martin, Chock & CardencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding team partnership for hazard mitigation planning, well-known throughout the Pacific for expertise in disaster preparedness

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: AECOM is a global infrastructure consulting firm with large federal planning, environmental, and master-planning practices, including Pacific and NAVFAC contracts. Demonstrates the scale-up competitor HHF could face on larger recompetes and IDIQ opportunities.
• Stantec: Stantec is a global planning, engineering, and environmental services firm with a strong Pacific footprint and federal planning practice. Comparable in master planning, environmental review, and community planning services across public-sector clients.
• WATG: WATG is the international architecture and design firm from which HHF Planners originated in 1980 as the planning division. Comparing to HHF illustrates the parent-firm lineage and the scale that WATG operates at as a global hospitality-led design firm with broader architecture, master planning, and interiors capability.

Emerging players

• SWA Group: SWA is a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning studio known for cultural and resort-scale master planning. Overlaps with HHF on landscape architecture and master planning for institutional and culturally significant sites.
• Sasaki Associates: Sasaki is a planning, urban design, and landscape architecture firm known for integrating planning, landscape architecture, and preservation across civic and campus projects. Comparable to HHF's multidisciplinary planning-plus-landscape-architecture model at a similarly focused scale.
• Nelson\Nygaard: Nelson\Nygaard is a multimodal transportation and Complete Streets planning firm with deep public-sector client base. Directly comparable on HHF's Multimodal Transportation Planning practice line (Hawai'i Bikeshare, O'ahu Bike Plan, Ke'eaumoku Complete Streets).
• MIG (Moore Iacofano Goltsman): MIG is a planning, design, and community engagement firm with strong public-sector and federal clients in community, sustainability, and transportation planning. Comparable to HHF's community-based and resilience planning capability.

Direct peers

• Belt Collins: Belt Collins is a long-established Hawai'i/Pacific landscape architecture and planning firm with deep federal (NAVFAC) and resort-sector experience, overlapping with HHF on master planning, landscape architecture, and environmental planning in the Pacific region.
• PBR HAWAII: PBR HAWAII is a Honolulu-based planning and design firm offering master planning, landscape architecture, environmental planning, and entitlement services across Hawai'i. Direct competitor in the same regional market with overlapping federal/state/local clientele and identical service mix.

Regional players

• RM Towill Corporation: RM Towill is a Honolulu-based engineering, planning, and surveying firm with strong federal and state clients in Hawai'i. Comparable in size and Pacific-region focus, with similar mission planning, environmental, and infrastructure-support work for government.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/hhfplanners
• Xx.com/hhfplanners
• Facebookfacebook.com/HHFplanners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hhf-planners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HHF Planners