The first 14 units at the much-anticipated Creek Wood Apartments on the city’s north side are ready for occupancy.

In February, the first set of apartments for the 198-unit apartment complex between Mill Street and Plaza Drive was so far ahead of schedule that developer Norstar Development USA, Buffalo, had hoped 96 units would be finished in May.

That did not happen because the developer submitted several changes to its plans to the city’s code enforcement office and other work lagged behind, said Code Enforcement Supervisor Shawn R. McWayne.

That left the city in a position to wait until Friday to issue certificates of occupancy for 14 units in two buildings, a clubhouse and maintenance building.

“If it’s not done, then it’s not done,” Mr. McWayne said.

All 14 units have been rented, said a representative from Landsman Reality, Rochester, the management company overseeing the property.

As of Friday afternoon, Landsman officials said they had not received the certificates of occupancy, so they could not say when tenants could move in.

Norstar officials Linda Goodman, Samuel J. Finlay and Stephen Hockenbury could not be reached to comment.

Earlier in the week, a family member who did not want her name used said tenants paid their security deposits in May with the promise they could move there in early June.

That promise came and went three more times this summer, leaving some tenants to find temporary housing until the apartments were completed, the woman said.

To get that paperwork on Friday, the developer had to install about a dozen working light poles that will be used for the four completed buildings, said code enforcement officer Carolyn F.R. Menier.

As a part of the agreement with the city, a fence was installed to separate the finished work and construction area, she said.

Construction on the remaining units in the first phase continues. The completion date for those 11 buildings was unclear Friday.

A second phase will include 14 buildings on Mill Street with a total of 102 apartment units. It may begin as early as the fall, depending on approval by a committee of officials from the Development Authority of the North Country, Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency, Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization and Jefferson County.

The buildings for phase two would be completed in 2013.

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