If no DNS lookup is being done, there should be absolutely NO
oppertunity for a redirect.

This is incorrect. A router with sufficient features can redirect whatever
it likes. It's quite common for hotspot types of setups to do just that.
So it doesn't matter if you have a static address, vpn or anything else.
Any packets that hit the router can be manipulated to return anything the
router dictates. Even at the ARP level. So your machine does an ARP lookup
trying to find your static address (or route) and it's given the router's
address; this is normal. But at the same time the router now knows your MAC
address (also normal). You use your browser and your MAC address then sends
other packets, the hotspot router understands this as HTTP traffic and
returns the redirected HTML content. Try any other static addresses and
you'll get the exact same thing.