I assume you are looking for something within the villages, as opposed to the towns if you are open to mixed use. As you said, flood zones are something to watch out for in all the villages, along with paying the additional village taxes. I know Athens flooded over Rt. 385 on Christmas, not sure about the others. There might be some mixed use opportunities in Coxsackie that are still the village but at a lower risk of flooding, as the village boundary has much more elevation change than Catskill and Athens. That might be an area to look at - send me a message if you have any questions about what area I mean.
With covid, I don't think the chances are great that any empty storefront could support a new business and I would look at an existing business very closely. Another thing to keep in mind is many old buildings here need lots of maintence. I went under contract on a early 1900s property in Leeds that looked like a great deal until inspection (Leeds also has water issues) and backed out because of the foundation work it needed. Catskill village has undergone serious rental price increases in the past decade and the last few months property prices are increasing with folks move upstate. I do think property prices are inflated and it's tougher to find a deal here that a year ago. On the flip side, it's easier to find quality tenants moving here that can pay a higher rent to live in a village. I don't have any speculations but I do wonder about the long term impacts in this market. Another local investor is planning some work for downtown Coxsackie. Out of the 3, Catskill seems to be growing the fastest, followed by Athens, then Coxsackie.
I'm not sure how useful any of the factors I mentioned will be since it does come down to numbers in my opinion, but I did enjoy the opportunity to think about my local markets in answering this!
