The mall originally opened with Ivey's and Belk in 1973, and Roses Stores as a junior anchor. Ivey's became Dillard's in 1990. In 2002, after The Streets at Southpoint was completed, Belk closed its store at the mall and South Square Mall store in Durham and consolidated both stores into one larger store at Southpoint. Upmarket gourmet retailer Southern Season bought and renovated the former Belk space in 2003. The mall received an exterior and interior renovation 2010. In 2010, the Chapel HillPublic Library initially planned a permanent move into the mall by taking over Dillard's space. However, Dillard's opted to remain in place and the town rejected the idea of moving the library there, so the library moved into temporary inline space in the mall instead while the current library underwent a renovation and expansion project. In 2013, a number of businesses from University Square on Franklin Street moved to the mall itself. The Kidzu Children's Museum was the first, taking over the temporary space of the Chapel Hill Library. Four others soon followed, as William Travis Jewelry, Fine Feathers, and Peacock Alley, moved into the former Kerr Drug space. Glee Kids, a children's specialty clothing store, moved nearby. TrySports, a specialty fitness retailer, also opened the same year next door to Southern Season. Fine Feathers is a women’s apparel boutique that began operating at University Square in 1976. William Travis Jewelry, a custom jewelry design store founded and owned by William Travis Kukovich, opened in 2002 in University Square. Kukovich's anchor store was 500 square feet, about the third of the size of the store he replaced it with. His new store at the mall, which replaced the store at University Square, opened on September 2, 2013 and is 3000 square feet. Kukovich's last store was ranked as one of the JCK top 50jewelry designer stores in the country In late 2013, Dillard's closed its store and was replaced with a movie theater. It had been converted into a clearance center. In April, the closure of the Roses store was announced as well. In late 2014, Madison Marquette announced that University Mall would be renamed University Place. By late 2015, the name change was complete, with the website updated to a URL using University Place and language referencing the new name, and the signage and facades at the mall now being named University Place.
