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S u n d ay, au g u S t 23, 2026
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SpaceX stirs real estate market Prospective buyers flocking to Vermilion
BY ADAM DAIGLE
Acadiana business editor
the data center gets built. Gov. Jeff Landry announced in July that Meta is expanding its investment at Hyperion to $50 billion, from $10 billion. The data center, whose massive computational capacity is designed to power Meta during the AI revolution, will now occupy five square miles and is scheduled to be fully operational in 2036. All of this is taking place in a
A 14-acre tract on the north side of Kaplan has sat empty for decades, despite being ready for development. Ricky LeBlanc and a business partner bought the property several years ago and proposed building 40 mobile homes there, but city officials rejected the plan. Nothing happened after that until LeBlanc got a call from the previous owner, longtime city engineer Gene Sellers, about six months ago that changed everything. “He said, ‘Did you hear anything about SpaceX?’” LeBlanc said. “I didn’t know if it was going to happen. He said, ‘It’s going to happen. There’s no doubt. Look, you’re going to have a hell of an opportunity.’” Now, with Gov. Jeff Landry expected to announce this week that SpaceX plans to build a multibillion-dollar spaceport in Vermilion Parish, LeBlanc said he has been contacted by multiple builders interested in developing 65 homes on the Landry property. Once details become public — Gov. Jeff Landry has called a news conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday — a deal could happen, he said. Even before an official announcement, the prospect of SpaceX coming to Vermilion Parish is beginning to stir the local real estate market. Earlier this week, two real estate agents announced sales involving buyers connected to the anticipated project. Vermilion is already the hottest market in Acadiana this year outside Lafayette Parish thanks to the new construction in the Maurice area. But now that likely will increase significantly, sources indicate, with dozens of speculative buyers expected to join the fray. “We’ve been getting a lot of activity on some properties that have been sitting for a little while,” said James Noel Jr., of Sunrise Realty in Abbeville. “When the news first broke, there was a few properties going on contract with some speculation with long closing dates. There’s a buzz around town for sure.” So far this year, 55 more homes have sold in Vermilion Parish than during the same period last year, according to data from Bill Bacque, of Market Scope Consulting. New construction sales have
ä See META, page 4A
ä See SPACEX, page 5A
BURSTING
AT THE SEAMS Meta data center packing hotels, new RV parks BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Jerry House needed a job. House had worked as a pipefitter for 10 years in Texas, but after the plant shut down last year, he called a buddy who said the giant Meta data center being built in northeast Louisiana needed all kinds of skilled laborers. House went to a union hall, took a test to determine his ability and by Easter this year had a job working on one of the biggest construction projects in the “I hope to United States. House, 58, now works be here 50 hours a week and another lives at the Cotton three or Patch RV Park, a couple four years.” of miles from the data center, known as HyJERRy HOUSE, perion. Meta data It’s not a glamorous life. The RVs are stacenter construction tioned on a gravel lot that used to be a cotton worker field in an unincorporated community called Holly Ridge. The closest bars, restaurants and nighttime entertainment are at least 30 minutes away. But the money is very good. Workers said they are making 11/ 2 to 2 times as much as on their previous jobs but didn’t want to provide specifics.
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Dunn Village, a recreation center where Meta data center workers spend their free time, features multiple recliners, sofas and televisions. TOP: A crane lifts material onto a building where crews are working on the Meta data center grounds in Holly Ridge in Richland Parish on Aug. 4. “I hope to be here another three or four years,” House said, sitting at a picnic table where workers who live at the RV park gather after quitting time to drink beer, socialize and order meals from a food truck. House joined thousands of fortuneseeking workers who are transforming rural Richland Parish, posing an extraordinary challenge of where to temporarily house all of them for what might only be a short-term gold rush as
Paralyzed at 18, Esponge now leads town of Delcambre
a training accident when he was had a drill sergeant who had some comMilitary drive pushes since 18. bat experience and recognized what had In 2009, following in the footsteps of happened and stabilized me,” Esponge mayor into public service his father who served for over 20 years, said. Esponge headed to basic training at Fort Known for his athleticism in high for his community Benning in Georgia. Fifteen days later, school, the realization was a bitter pill
BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer
Tipper Esponge once imagined a future running decathlons for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and deploying to the Middle East with his National Guard unit. Instead, at 33, he runs a small town along the border of Iberia and Vermilion parishes. Esponge, the mayor of Delcambre, has been paralyzed from the neck down
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he suffered his life-altering injury during a routine drill. “There was a big, huge mud puddle of water with individual lanes,” Esponge described. “You had to jump into the water and crawl underneath the barbed wire.” However, he was unaware that the pit was only 6 inches deep, and believing it to be much deeper, he dived in head first, severing his spinal cord in the process. “The first thing I remember realizing was that I couldn’t move. Thankfully, I
for him to swallow. “It didn’t really sink in at first, going from being an athletic 18-year-old to not even being able to scratch my own nose,” Esponge said. “I was used to playing sports and bouncing back after an injury. I had joined knowing when I was done with basic training that my unit (would go) to either Iraq or Afghanistan and some part of me still thought I was going to deploy.”
ä See MAYOR, page 5A
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................2B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................8D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
Tipper Esponge, the mayor of Delcambre, overcame a spinal injury sustained during military training to become a dedicated public servant focused on community and economic development. PROVIDED PHOTO
102ND yEAR, NO. 54