Now dominating the approach to NYU Abu Dhabi’s outdoor athletics facilities, the flurry of multicolored Tourism Development and Investment Company banners are hard to miss as one heads toward Sheikh Khalifa Highway. The advertising menagerie leads to one of Saadiyat Island’s newest additions, the TDIC Saadiyat office. The glass-clad structure is part of TDIC’s plan to build the planned Saadiyat Lagoon District.

TDIC was originally formed in 2006 as “the dedicated tourism asset management and development arm of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority”, according the TDIC website. The group made its original mark on the main island of Abu Dhabi the year after its founding, when it developed several hotels on Abu Dhabi’s eastern coast including the Shangri-la, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr and Park Rotana. More recently, the company has dominated Saadiyat Island, calling the island its “flagship project.” Finishing construction on Manarat Al Saadiyat and the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in 2010, the company has since spearheaded nearly all construction projects on the island. From Cranleigh Abu Dhabi to the St. Regis Saadiyat Island complex to the slated Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the only notable exception is NYU Abu Dhabi, which was constructed by Mubadala.

According to TDIC’s plan, Saadiyat will be composed of four main slated zones: the Beach, the Cultural District, the Marina and the Lagoon District. Saadiyat Beach is by far the most completed of the zones, boasting various completed residences and hotels along its white sand shoreline. It is set to serve as the relaxation and resort hub of the island. To the south is the Cultural District, housing the major Zayed, Guggenheim and Louvre museums. This area is supposed to serve as the new cultural center of Abu Dhabi with plans to finish construction on the Louvre this winter and with no completion dates set for the other two museums.

NYUAD, though technically located in the Marina District, will straddle the Marina and Lagoon Districts. The Marina has seen no major construction projects to date outside the university, although it is planned to house a new business-residential district. The Lagoon, on the other hand, is now undergoing major development. Cast as the island’s major residential area, construction has already begun on phase one of the area for 2019. All two-bedroom residences in the 820 townhouse start to the wider 4,000-unit Lagoon community have sold out for between 2.6 to 3.2 million AED each. The community is currently appealing mostly to Emiratis and expatriates, with perks like a slated equestrian course on the coast and 99-year leases for non-UAE national land ownership, according to one of TDIC’s Saadiyat sales officials.

Construction on the island in the areas surrounding the university appears set to continue for at least the next 10 years. The NYUAD community’s new neighbors do not appear to be ready to leave anytime soon.