The Ascend Elements project in Hopkinsville is now facing some legal troubles, after Turner-Kokosing Joint Venture has filed a lawsuit in Christian Civil Court.
The complaint was filed by a joint venture made of Turner Construction Company and Kokosing Industrial, Inc., who were contracted with Ascend Elements to serve as the Design Builder for design and construction work related to the industrial development of the Apex 1 Facility in Commerce Park II in Hopkinsville.
They allege that Ascend Elements has failed or refused to pay for work that was done and materials delivered by the Joint Venture by December 20 of 2024. The total owed, the plaintiff says, is $138.4 million. They go on to state that they are entitled to recover interest from Ascend at a rate of 12 percent, on top of what they are already owed.
The Joint Venture is demanding the Court enter judgement against Ascend and order them to pay the amount due, along with interest and court costs, or bring it to a jury to decide.
Speaking with Christian Fiscal Court Tuesday morning, Facility Manager Mark Fern says he is confident the lawsuit will be resolved and they are committed to paying what bills are owed.
As far as the construction schedule, Fern says the process has slowed down by a construction pause, but they expect to have construction fired back up with everything complete by mid-2026.
There are a slew of other defendants listed on the law suit, including the Hopkinsville Industrial Foundation by virtue of a mortgage valued at $2.8 million, Planters Bank as the assigned of that mortgage, the City of Hopkinsville through a real estate mortgage, Christian County Government through a property tax bill, Paducah’s Triangle Enterprises, Inc., Calvert City’s Travis Construction Company, Frankfort’s RMF Nooter, LLC, A&I Dock Equipment, Garmong & Son, Inc., United Electric Company, Foundation Steel, Miner Ltd., the Laibe Electric Company, Morphy Company Mechanical Contractors and Engineers, Cleary Construction, McCormick Equipment Company, Lents Enterprises, TEC-Protective Coatings and Steel Fab, Inc.
Those entities are listed in the suit and advised to answer and set forth any claim or interest it may have in the property and the work done to it in various amounts.