"Had the club owned the ground then I think you would have seen it mortgaged to the hilt, any income derived from it used to service debt, and almost perversely more vulnerable to administration because banks and other creditors would have had something to go for "
Absolutely. Also there's no way the non-footballing side of the Arena would have been able to progress as it has thus leading to a lowering of the asset value as well.
If we'd owned the ground when SISU had come in it's pretty safe to say that SISU and the football club would be long gone by now.