Built in 1969, the mall features Ashley Furniture, Hy-Vee, Planet Fitness, and Von Maur as its anchor stores.

Opening day ceremonies included a ribbon cutting hosted by the then-mayors of Cedar Falls and nearby Waterloo.

[3] Brothers Matthew and Martin Bucksbaum, then respectively the president and chairman of General Management, worked with a number of people to develop the mall.

[5] General Growth attempted to sell ten malls under its ownership, including College Square, in 1980 in order to pay off mortgages.

This sale was initially halted by a lawsuit filed against the Bucksbaum brothers by owners of a pension fund who had interest in General Growth.

After this was settled out of court, General Growth sold College Square and the other nine malls to Aetna Life Insurance and The Rouse Company for $91,000,000.

[8] Montgomery Ward closed the College Square Mall store in late 1985 due to declining sales.

[13] Scheels All Sports joined the mall in 1999, relocating from a store at Black Hawk Village shopping center.

These factors also impacted Crossroads Mall in nearby Waterloo, Iowa, creating a surplus of retail space in the market.

[19] College Square has seen a further decline in tenancy under the ownership of Namdar, including the closure of Younkers due to bankruptcy in 2018.