College Square Mall Redevelopment: $5M TIF Plan, Cedar Falls

By Jared Hottle | Published: October 15, 2026

$6 million. $17.21 per square foot. 55 tenant spaces. A 60% vacancy rate. Up to $5 million in city incentives.

Those are the numbers behind the College Square Mall redevelopment in Cedar Falls. JDAVIS Properties LLC, the company of Slumberland owner Jon Davis, bought the mall at 6301 University Avenue for $6 million on March 11, 2026. That’s $17.21 per square foot on the Black Hawk County Assessor record, and it was the largest single commercial deal in the Cedar Valley since Q4 2024 (Hottle Real Estate Q1 2026 Market Report). On October 5, the Cedar Falls City Council adopted a new University Avenue Corridor Urban Renewal Plan drawn around the mall. The plan names one main project: a development agreement with JDAVIS that would rebate taxes on new value, with total city costs “not anticipated to exceed $5,000,000” (City of Cedar Falls, Oct. 5, 2026 Council Packet).

Next door in Waterloo, the city took the other route. Crossroads Mall has been torn down to make way for a $28 million TIF-backed rebuild. Cedar Falls is betting on keeping its mall standing. Here’s what was approved, what’s still being negotiated, and what it means for tenants, owners, and investors on the University Avenue corridor.

College Square Mall by the Numbers

Sale price: $6,000,000, recorded March 11, 2026, at $17.21/SF (Q1 2026 Market Report). By my math, that price and price per foot point to roughly 349,000 square feet on the assessor record.
Price context: Office/retail deals in Q1 2026 had a median of $65.60/SF and ranged from $17.21 to $258.75/SF. College Square was the bottom of that range, at about a quarter of the median (same source).
Size: The mall is listed at 552,884 square feet. At the 1969 opening it had about 600,000 square feet of retail and was the largest mall in Iowa (Wikipedia).
Tenant spaces: 55. Only 13 were occupied at the time of the sale (Cedar Falls News Hub). By June, mall development director Chris Jung estimated occupancy at about 40%, up from “just over 30%” at purchase (Business Record).
City’s vacancy finding: “There is a vacancy rate of 60% within the mall,” according to the adopted urban renewal plan (Oct. 5 Council Packet).
Anchors: Von Maur, Hy-Vee, Ashley Furniture, and Planet Fitness (Wikipedia).
Traffic: Iowa DOT’s 2025 counts show 17,900 vehicles per day on the University Avenue segment just west of the mall and 10,900 on the segment just east (Iowa DOT RAMS).

What Cedar Falls Approved on October 5, and What It Didn’t

The official minutes show two votes (Oct. 5, 2026 Council Minutes):

Resolution #24,782 adopted the University Avenue Corridor Urban Renewal Plan and designated the area for urban renewal. It passed 7-0.
Ordinance #3157 is the TIF ordinance. It sends future property taxes on new value inside the area to a special fund. It passed its first consideration 6-0, with Councilmember Craig Fairbanks recorded as “absent/not voting due to temporary connection loss.” (The Courier reported the count as 6-1. The official minutes show six ayes and no nays.)

The ordinance is on the October 19 agenda for its second consideration (Oct. 19, 2026 Agenda).

What has not been approved yet is the development agreement itself. City staff said the agreement’s terms “will be explained within an upcoming development agreement that City Council will consider separately from the urban renewal plan.” The plan describes the deal as “still being negotiated” (Oct. 5 Council Packet). Staff noted the plan has to be adopted before any development agreement. The money comes later, under a separate contract.

The area itself is narrow. It covers “Lot 1 in University Avenue Corridor Addition,” except the part inside Furn Subdivision. The city’s map labels University Avenue, Boulder Drive, Maplewood Drive, and Carlton Drive around the site (Public Notice; Oct. 5 Council Packet). Despite the “corridor” name, this is a single-site district, not a corridor-wide incentive zone.

University Avenue Corridor Urban Renewal Area, Exhibit B. Source: City of Cedar Falls City Council packet, Oct. 5, 2026.

Fairbanks summed up the council’s thinking. According to The Courier, he said: “I’m not one for tax abatements, however this is one that sorely needs help. This investor stepped up, a local person, to make this happen. None of us wants to see a bulldozed property … such as the one in Waterloo. This has great opportunity, and this is certainly worthy of some help and abatement to push this project along. I wish them the best of luck” (WCF Courier).

How the TIF Rebate Works for the Mall at College Square

This isn’t an upfront check. It’s a rebate on growth. Here’s what the adopted plan says (Oct. 5 Council Packet):

Frozen base. The taxable value is locked at its January 1 assessment for the year before the city first certifies debt. Economic Development Coordinator Shane Graham told the Planning and Zoning Commission that “anything added after that is what is collected and can be rebated to the developer.”
Grants funded by increment. The JDAVIS incentive would come as “grants funded by incremental taxes derived from the increased value created by the redevelopment efforts.”
Ceiling, not a promise. Total city costs are not expected to exceed $5,000,000. Planning and legal fees are capped at $50,000, for $5,050,000 in total proposed indebtedness.
Time limit. For TIF districts created after May 18, 2026, the plan caps increment collection at 23 years after the first year debt is certified.
No stacking by default. No urban revitalization tax abatement will be allowed in the area unless the council expressly authorizes it.

What that means in practice: If JDAVIS doesn’t add assessed value, there’s no increment and no rebate. The $5 million only flows as value is created. That puts most of the risk on the developer, not the taxpayer. It also means real dollars have to go into the building before any incentive pays out.

The process also drew little pushback. At the September 16 consultation session for affected taxing bodies (Black Hawk County and the Cedar Falls school district), city staff were the only ones who attended. Planning and Zoning then found the plan consistent with the Comprehensive Plan on a 7-0 vote September 23 (Oct. 5 Council Packet).

From Iowa’s Largest Mall to 60% Vacant: A Short History

College Square opened November 12, 1969, developed by General Management, the company later known as General Growth Properties. The original anchors were Woolco, Montgomery Ward, and Younkers. Over the next 50 years the anchor lineup turned over completely (Wikipedia):

Walmart replaced Woolco in 1984 and left in 2003. Hy-Vee took that space in 2005 and 2006.
Younkers moved into the former Montgomery Ward, and Von Maur took the original Younkers box.
Scheels joined in 1999 and left in 2013. Planet Fitness backfilled the space.
The mall sold to Namdar Realty Group in 2013. Younkers closed in 2018, and Ashley Furniture opened in that space in 2021.

The city’s urban renewal plan doesn’t sugarcoat where things ended up. It calls the mall “in a deteriorated condition,” says the site improvements are worn, and calls the lot layout and building styles “obsolete” (Oct. 5 Council Packet). According to the Northern Iowan, Namdar wouldn’t come down on price until after it sold Crossroads in Waterloo (Northern Iowan).

The sale also marks the first time since 1969 that the mall has had a Cedar Falls-based owner (Cedar Falls News Hub).

JDAVIS Properties’ Plan: Local Ownership, Short Leases, and a College Square District

The adopted plan says JDAVIS “plans to redevelop the site with a mix of uses” (Oct. 5 Council Packet). No dollar amount, site plan, or construction schedule has been made public yet. What the Davis family has said publicly lays out a clear leasing strategy:

Low-risk leases. The mall offers short-term leases as short as month-to-month, with low rates for inline spaces (Business Record). Three- and six-month pop-up leases were part of the plan from the start (Cedar Falls News Hub).
An incubator model. Jung describes the mall as “an incubator for ideas.” He is also recruiting local operators to open second locations and reaching out to regional and national brands (Business Record).
Food and entertainment. Ideas include rotating food trucks in the existing kitchen spaces and turning the former movie theater into an entertainment center (Cedar Falls News Hub). Jon Davis has also floated “maybe expanding the building” (Northern Iowan).
Early tenants. New tenants include an arena football team store and an ice cream shop in the former Baskin-Robbins space (Cedar Valley Now). They join Bath & Body Works, Claire’s, HuHot Mongolian Grill, a beauty school, a local coffee shop, and a consignment shop (Business Record).
A district, not just a building. Jung wants to brand the mall, the University Avenue storefronts, and the surrounding neighborhood as the “College Square District” (KWWL).

Davis has a track record on this stretch. He bought the vacant former Hy-Vee building in February 2016 and opened Slumberland at 6607 University Avenue in July 2017 (Cedar Falls News Hub). After the roughly $39 million University Avenue rebuild, which replaced six traffic signals with roundabouts, he told The Courier his store traffic was “double — sometimes three times” what his old store saw (WCF Courier, 2019; Roads & Bridges). His view of mall redevelopment is clear: “I am saddened by cities wanting to tear these malls down as the only way to redevelop.”

College Square vs. Crossroads: Two Cedar Valley Paths for a Dying Mall

Fairbanks’ “bulldozed property” line pointed straight at Waterloo. Here’s how the two projects compare:

	Mall at College Square (Cedar Falls)	Crossroads (Waterloo)
Approach	Reactivate the existing building	Demolish and rebuild as The BLVD at Crossroads
Size	552,884 SF listed	About 800,000 SF on 57.5 acres
Purchase	$6M, March 2026	More than $7.25M, closed September 2025
City incentive	Up to $5M in rebates on new value	$28M TIF package
Status	Leasing now; agreement still being negotiated	Mall structure removed by July 2026; construction expected in 2027

Sources: Q1 2026 Market Report, Wikipedia, Business Record, Sep. 2025, Hottle Real Estate Q3 2025, City of Waterloo, ATI Group via LinkedIn, KWWL.

Waterloo’s original November 2024 agreement reimbursed about $20 million for purchase and demolition through TIF (KWWL). By September 2025, Mayor Quentin Hart was citing $28 million. The full build-out is expected to take five to eight years (KWWL video).

The difference comes down to what’s left in each building. Crossroads had no anchors by 2023 (Business Record, Sep. 2025). ATI Group COO BJ Stokesbary says his company targets malls that are “completely empty of box stores and inline no more than 20% or less occupied.” His take: “The big-box model in regional Iowa was never going to come back” (Business Record, Jun. 2026). College Square still has four operating anchors and is about 40% occupied by the owner’s estimate. That’s a far stronger base to reactivate than an empty shell.

My read: the two strategies aren’t really competing. Crossroads will deliver new pad sites and a retail power center along its northern edge (City of Waterloo), aimed at national brands that want new construction. College Square is offering low-cost, short-term space in an existing building, aimed at local and regional operators who need low rent and flexible terms.

The National Picture: Fewer Malls, Tighter Space, and a Hard Road for Class B and C

Nationally, malls are doing better than the headlines suggest, but the gains are uneven:

About 900 U.S. malls are still operating, and about 200 have closed since 2008 (Newmark, Oct. 2026).
Mall vacancy fell to 8.2% in Q3 2026, compared with 4.3% for all retail (Colliers via CRE Daily).
Class A mall availability is just 2.9%. Vacancy for Class B and lower malls is 10.1% (Newmark).
Foot traffic at C malls is still 15.3% below 2019, while A++ malls are 6.6% above it (Newmark, citing Placer.ai via Green Street).

Newmark’s definition of a Class C “dying mall” specifically names holding-company owners like Namdar. It also notes that Class B malls are “candidates for reimagining,” often by backfilling anchors with experiential uses (Newmark).

Iowa has examples of every path. Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines is adding an arena, more than 140,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space, and a 150-room hotel. Valley West Mall in West Des Moines has about 18 of 138 spaces occupied (Business Record, Jun. 2026). College Square is somewhere in between: a mall that until March had the kind of holding-company owner Newmark associates with Class C malls, now trying to move up with local ownership and experience-driven tenants.

What It Means for Tenants, Owners, and Investors

For retail tenants and entrepreneurs: The Mall at College Square may be the lowest-commitment way to get a storefront on a major Cedar Falls corridor. You can sign month-to-month with low inline rates and test your concept before committing. Ask about co-tenancy, signage on University Avenue, and shared marketing. Anchors draw traffic, and co-tenancy clauses matter when they leave (Business Record).

For nearby property owners: A redevelopment that adds value next door usually helps. A rebranded “College Square District,” a newer 7 Brew stand at 6003 University Avenue that opened in August (WCF Courier; Wapsie Realty), and Slumberland’s renovated center all point to an improving corridor. Keep in mind that the TIF only covers the mall parcel, so neighboring properties don’t get the incentive.

For investors: The $17.21/SF basis was the lowest office/retail price per square foot recorded in the Cedar Valley in Q1 2026. Watch whether new value actually gets added. The incentive only pays if the assessed value rises, so assessments are the scoreboard. Also keep the Q1 2026 office/retail median of $65.60/SF in mind (Q1 2026 Market Report). There’s a wide spread between distressed mall space and stabilized neighborhood retail, and a reactivated corridor can close part of it.

What to Watch Next

October 19: Second consideration of Ordinance #3157 (Oct. 19 Agenda).
The development agreement. Watch for the rebate percentage, the term, any minimum assessment, and required improvements. None of these terms is public yet.
JDAVIS’s capital plan. Watch for a dollar figure, a site plan, and whether “a mix of uses” includes anything beyond retail.
Theater and entertainment backfill. A family entertainment user in the old theater would be a meaningful traffic driver.
Crossroads’ first vertical construction in 2027. It will show which tenants choose new pads over a reactivated mall.

Key Takeaways for Property Professionals

The basis is low. $6 million, or $17.21/SF, was the lowest office/retail price per square foot in Q1 2026. That’s about a quarter of the $65.60 median.
The plan is adopted. The deal isn’t done. The urban renewal plan passed 7-0 and the TIF ordinance passed its first reading. The JDAVIS development agreement is still being negotiated and will come to council separately.
Up to $5 million, paid only on new value. The incentive is a rebate on increased taxable value, capped at $5 million in city costs, with a 23-year limit on increment.
The city’s own numbers show the challenge: 60% vacancy across 55 spaces, a deteriorated 1969 structure, and an “obsolete” layout.
Cedar Falls is reusing; Waterloo is rebuilding. College Square’s $5 million cap compares with $28 million for Crossroads. The two will serve different tenants.
National data says quality wins. Class B-and-lower mall vacancy is 10.1%, and C-mall traffic is still 15.3% below 2019. Experience-driven reuse is how the middle of the market survives.
For tenants, short terms lower the risk. Month-to-month and pop-up leases on a corridor that carries 10,900 to 17,900 vehicles a day is a rare entry point.

Sources

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College Square Mall Redevelopment: Cedar Falls Adopts University Avenue Urban Renewal Plan and $5M TIF Incentive | Hottle Real Estate