A quick drive down University Avenue near Jones AT&T Stadium would reveal a hollowed-out version of the businesses that normally fill the area.

“There’s been several restaurants go in, and some have had challenges,” Lubbock City Council member Jeff Griffith, of district 3, said.

“I think we need to be honest with ourselves. that we’ve had 61 new restaurants in one year come in to this city, thus, competitiveness is at an all-time high for those dining dollars,” he explained.

EverythingLubbock.com has not obtained official documentation from businesses that have moved out as to why they will no longer stay open. Businesses such as Dion’s have opted to change locations, while Mojo Bowl’s short-lived status was likely impacted by a similar business nearby, Vitality Bowls.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Grill and Wings, which opened in Fall of 2015, closed its doors several months later, which made way for Twisted Spigot.

Furthermore, the Stadium Motel, at the corner of University and Marsha Sharp Freeway, was demolished this year.

“The motel going out, that property is being redeveloped, in a very positive way in my opinion,” Griffith said.

“You hate to see any business go out, you hate that,” he added. “But, it’s a very competitive marketplace and there’ll be new businesses come in to that area, because it’s very fertile, very fertile property along that corridor across from Texas Tech University.”

City Council member Juan Chadis, of district 1, represents constituents in that stretch on the east side of University. He said he did not have any specific information about businesses closing in that area, but said there were “a variety of reasons” why business owners might close their stores down.

“Why businesses shut down, it’s anybody’s guess,” Chadis said.

Chadis explained none of the local business owners made arrangements to meet with him to address their concerns prior to shutting down. He said owners ought to consider looking within the business first to solve any possible problems.

“There’s a bunch of businesses down University that have been very successful,” Chadis said. “Down Broadway, down Main Street, so because one or two businesses move out is not going to deter other businesses from coming in,” Chadis mentioned.

Both men said having school out for summer should not impact sales much, unless business owners did not work that into their budget.

“Any time that you lose that much student population, if they’re dependent upon student population for their dollars, yes I think sometimes that’s part of the ebb and flow of it, is that summers sometimes are tougher in Lubbock because we have less population in summer,” Griffith said.

“Seems like if you’re running a business on university or close to the campus you have to set your expenses accordingly when the students move out of town, that’s something that’s expected to happen,” Chadis added.

“Cost structures and budgets have got to be very accurate especially through the summer months if they’re dependent on Texas Tech student body for a lot of their dollars,” Griffith stated.