NEW YORK CITY—Noted men's and women's fashion designer Hugo Boss is relocating its North American headquarters operations to 55 Water St.

The firm, which currently houses its North American headquarters at 601 West 26th St. (the Starrett-Lehigh Building) in Midtown South, has signed a long-term lese for 73,690 square feet at the 53-story 55 Water St. building that contains 3.9 million square feet of office space.

The transaction was announced by CBRE Group, Inc., which represented the building ownership New Water Street Corp., an entity controlled by The Retirement Systems of Alabama, in the deal. The CBRE team of David Caperna, Howard Fiddle, Evan Haskell, Bradley Gerla and Mary Ann Tighe represented ownership in the transaction, while Greg Taubin of Savills Studley represented Hugo Boss.

The design firm will occupy the entire 48th floor at 55 Water St., comprising 68,793 square feet, as well as partial sublevel space of 4,897 square feet, for a total of 73,690 square feet. The company intends to move into 55 Water St. in the second quarter of 2015.

“This relocation continues the accelerating trend of creative firms of all types moving Downtown,” says George Acero, executive vice president and COO of NWSC. “TAMI and fashion companies are attracted to the excitement that is being generated Downtown and 55 Water St. is ideal for these types of users because of its large, efficient floor plates, tremendous views, access to light and an abundance of in-building amenities.”

Among 55 Water Street's amenities are two on-site parks with Wi-Fi accessibility; The Elevated Acre, updated with a seasonal beer garden; a new high-end tenant only cafe and coffee bar; a 600-car parking garage and above standard HVAC with emergency power.

“We are proud that 55 Water St. has attracted forward-thinking creative firms like Hugo Boss, who appreciates the environmentally sustainable infrastructure of the building, including the newly installed thermal storage ice plant, which will increase cooling efficiency and decrease energy consumption,” says Acero. “This is a major investment in green technology that will remove 32.5 million pounds of CO2 from the environment, the equivalent of removing 3,000 cars from the road annually, or planting 4,400 acres of trees.”

Also, NWSC is implementing a multi-million-dollar “Distributed Antenna System” to improve wireless coverage and network capacity throughout the building.