VERMILION PARISH — Jim Keaty, broker and owner of Keaty Real Estate, said he began looking into the rumors and found enough evidence to take them seriously.
"The further I dug into it, the more realistic this actually looked like it could possibly happen, and we still don't know if it is actually going to happen, but there's a lot of indicators," Keaty said.
House Bills 1088 and 1179 passed during the 2026 Louisiana legislative session created state tax breaks for aerospace companies. House Bill 1099 passed this year established protections for aerospace companies that would prevent temporary restraining orders on noise pollution and public nuisance claims.
“In Vermilion Parish, they recently paved the road to Freshwater City from 82, which is, you know, been gravel road our whole lives. They recently dredged the bypass around the Freshwater City locks, which tells us that they probably have some very large ships that are going to be coming into Freshwater City," he said. "A lot of these things are all starting to add up that there must be a pretty significant project planned for Vermilion Parish."
Keaty said a SpaceX facility built in Texas added nearly 20,000 jobs to that area. He said a similar development could benefit Acadiana, with job growth drawing new residents to nearby communities.
"The people who move there, we're going to need services too, you know, grocery stores, you know, facilities, and that will ultimately add more demand to restaurants and other things going all the way up into Lafayette," Keaty said.
Keaty, who also hunts and fishes on Pecan Island, acknowledged concerns from hunters and fishermen about the potential environmental impact if such a facility were to come to that area.
"We've hunted and fished and spent our time in South Louisiana and Vermilion Parish for generations, and we certainly don't want to lose that, and we certainly don't want to, you know, see any kind of negatively environmental impact to our area," Keaty said.
SpaceX has not responded to a request for comment.
