Spend enough time in the small New Jersey cities crammed along the Hudson River, between the Lincoln Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge, and you start to see them everywhere: nearly identical modernist duplexes shaped like futuristic cubes. Think South Beach more than south Bergen County.

Their characteristic design — unusual for an area used to brick and clapboard homes — and their hefty price tag aren’t just a symbol of change and increasing urban density in the towns along the Palisades that overlook Manhattan. They’re also part of a land rush, as developers vie to knock down older homes and build new duplexes.

“Everybody, all the developers in this area, they're all looking for the same thing,” said Gregory Garbuz, who runs Fort Lee-based Elite Homes Construction with his father

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