Columbus City Council just approved a $200 million development deal for Steelton Village on South High Street. 455 new apartments, a park, and infrastructure upgrades. Sounds like investment. Sounds like progress. But follow the paper trail. The project is tied to and also looking at funding. That means this project is not just private money. This is public-backed development using tax credits. Now here’s where it matters. These units are aimed at households earning 60% of area median income. In Columbus, that doesn’t mean “low-income Black families.” That often means working-class to moderate-income households, and sometimes people moving into the area, not the people already struggling in it. So what happens next? Property values go up. Land values go up. Taxes go up. Rents go up around it. That’s not theory, that’s the pattern. We’ve seen this before. Investment comes into historically underinvested Black areas, not when residents need it, but when the land becomes valuable. Then the funding shows up. Not to stabilize the people already there, but to redevelop the space. That’s the shift. From disinvestment to extraction. Look at the structure. The developer is putting up $200 million, but they’re also chasing tax credits. That means reduced tax liability. That means public money is helping fund private development. So ask the real question. If public money is involved, where are the protections for the current residents? Where are the guarantees they won’t be priced out? Where are the ownership pathways? Where is the plan for wealth building, not just housing? Because without that, this becomes familiar. Past: Black neighborhoods redlined and underfunded. Present: Investment shows up once land becomes profitable. Result: New development rises, original residents get pushed out. They call it development. The pattern calls it displacement. And here’s the part people miss. “Affordable housing” tied to median income doesn’t mean affordable for the people at the bottom. It just means discounted for someone else. So while the city celebrates 455 units, the real question is who those units are for, and who won’t be there anymore when they’re built. Track the incentives. Track who benefits. Track who gets replaced. That’s the real receipt. That’s what the Black Wall is built for. And y’all cool with this?