1Closeness in distance to a place or object; the surrounding area or vicinity (the nominal use of 近い, close to "nearby" or "neighborhood").
駅の近くに新しいカフェがオープンした。
A new cafe opened near the station.
うちの近くには大きな公園がある。
There is a big park near my house.
近くまで来たら電話してください。
Please call me when you're nearby.
彼女は近くに住んでいるので、よく会う。
She lives nearby, so we see each other often.
2Attached after a quantity or time expression to mean "nearly" or "close to" (e.g. 一年近く "nearly a year").
その工事には一年近くかかった。
The construction took nearly a year.
会場には千人近くの人が集まった。
Nearly a thousand people gathered at the venue.
彼はもう五十近くになる。
He's already getting close to fifty.
3An adverbial use meaning "soon" or "shortly," a somewhat formal way of saying something will happen in the near future.
近く新しい店がオープンする予定だ。
A new shop is scheduled to open soon.
社長は近く海外へ出張するそうだ。
I hear the president will go on an overseas business trip soon.